


Blake Belladonna: White Fang

by Zeroan



Series: RWBY Superhero Universe [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 20:21:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 49,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11631180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeroan/pseuds/Zeroan
Summary: As a child, Blake Belladonna was taken away from her parents and experimented on by human scientists. To break free, she'll have to use her newly-discovered Semblance and count on the help of a new friend. After that, the world opens before her eyes - and it is not as bright as she once thought it was.





	1. Unhappy Birthday

She faced the mirror, looking into her amber eyes, weary from fighting. Her face bruised; ears pressed to the top of her head in anxious anticipation.

She wondered if the people on the other side of the mirror were observing her, discussing if she was a threat, another one of the lot to be thrown… wherever they had thrown the captured.

She couldn't blame them. Well, she could, she wanted to. The anger was still there, along with the frustration and the hurt. But she had to be better than that.

The door opened, and the silver-haired man entered the room, walking around the interrogation table to stand behind a chair. She saw his reflection on the mirror and turned around.

"Miss Belladonna. My name is Ozpin, Director of Beacon. I'd like for you to sit down and have a conversation with me."

She looked to the door. Was it unlocked? She hadn't heard keys or anything of the like. Part of the test, probably. She sat down along with him.

"What do you want to talk about?" She asked, crossing her arms and leaning back on her chair.

"I thought you would know," the Director smiled slightly. "The railway incident. You were there, were you not?"

"You know I was," she said. "Your people cleaned up the mess. And for everything before that, you already have someone with all the information."

He took off his spectacles and laid them down on the table. "You are correct, to a point. I have access to all kinds of information, all across the globe," he leaned forward, his brown eyes boring into hers. "What I don't have access to is your perspective on the matter."

She fidgeted in her chair, avoiding his eyes. There was something about this man. She should hate him, fear him, but it was becoming harder and harder not to open up to him.

"Fine," she said. "What do you want to know?"

"Start from the beginning. _Your_ beginning."

Blake looked up at him… and nodded.

"It started on my seventh birthday."

* * *

**BLAKE BELLADONNA**

**WHITE FANG**

* * *

Few people had showed up for the party, which wasn't unusual. Blake was accustomed to spending birthdays in the company of distant relatives and her closest friends from school. The ones who didn't make fun of her ears or the color of her eyes. The ones who didn't think it was funny to bring laser dots to the classroom just to distract her. The ones who had never filled her backpack with tuna fish – well, that prank hadn't been that bad, but her textbooks had smelled horrible for weeks after.

But now even those friends hadn't come. Her mother had called their parents, and every one of them had had their excuses. Sick relatives; too much schoolwork… At least that's what her mother had told her. But Blake was too clever to believe her.

It hurt, but it was just a birthday party. No big deal. She would see them in school next week anyway, and everything would be fine. Grudges weren't really her thing. And there was even a bright side to their absence: to cheer her up, her parents had given her money to go buy ice cream from the shop at the corner of the street.

Blake was midway there when the van came and the men in mask grabbed her. They covered her mouth with something, and she immediately began to feel drowsy. As her vision turned black, she heard her parents yelling from afar.

Tires screeched, and their voices faded away.

* * *

When she woke up, the first thing Blake saw was a ceiling so white it almost hurt to look at it. She felt tired, but not like when she ran a lot or played sports at school. It was the sick kind of tired, which left her mouth and throat dry and made it difficult for her to think straight. She was on a bed with a hard mattress and no bedclothes, not at all like her own back home.

 _Home_.

Blake sat up suddenly, her eyes widening in panic as she struggled to understand where she was. The room she was in looked more like a cubicle than anything else, with glass walls on all four sides. Looking to the left, she saw rooms identical to hers, going so far she couldn't see the end of them. Turning to her right, she saw the same thing, except in the closest one, the bed was occupied by another kid.

Blake jumped to her feet, wobbling a bit, and went to the wall. She breathed in nervously and knocked on the glass, afraid of hurting herself. The blow made barely any noise, prompting her to try again harder, but the kid still didn't turn around. Asleep, maybe? It was hard to tell, and she was too nervous to give the matter much more thought.

She heard a ringing noise behind her and spun around, just in time to see an adult man slipping a plate into her room through a hole next to the floor.

"Hey!" Blake yelled, running towards him. "W-where am I?! Why did you bring me here?"

The man didn't as much as look at her as he turned around and walked away. Blake bit her lip, trembling, and sat on the ground. She held back her tears, looking at the plate he had left behind. There was bread on it, except it didn't smell anything like any Blake had eaten before.

Her stomach growled. Blake looked around hesitantly, then picked up the bread and took a bite. It had a bitter taste, like medicine. If she weren't so hungry, she would have put it down immediately and left it there.

She had already eaten half the bread when she heard a voice to her right. "Oh, crap. You shouldn't have done that."

She looked to the source of the voice and saw her neighbor had woken up and was now crouching close to the wall, his face twisted into a grimace as he examined her from afar. He had vivid red hair and, poking out of it, two tiny bull horns.

"Hi. You should probably put that away," he said, pointing at the bread. "They only feed us that when they want to take us to the lab."

Blake munched down the bread that remained in her mouth, then put the rest down on the plate. "…Lab?"

"You're new," he looked up at the ceiling, rubbing the back of his head. "Don't worry about it. You're gonna get what I mean when they come take you. Just don't freak out too much, okay?"

"W-what are we doing here?" Blake asked, crawling closer to him.

The boy sighed. Before he could say anything else, they heard steps coming close, then a trio of men dressed in lab coats stopped before Blake's room.

"That's the new one?"

"Yes. Arrived just now. Should we break it in?"

"The sooner the better. Take care with the claws, I hear these ones can be vicious."

The wall between her and the men slipped into the ground, and two of them started towards her. Blake backed away until she hit a corner. Tears blurred her vision.

"Now, now. We're not going to hurt you," one of the men said, reaching a hand towards her. "Just be cooperative and nothing-"

"Oh, come on!" The boy in the other room yelled, rolling his eyes. "Learn a better line. Has anyone ever believed you?" He looked at Blake. "You hear me? Don't buy into their bullshit. Fight back!"

Blake sniffed, then glared at the man and curled her fists. She lunged forward, swinging a punch at his chest, but lost strength before connecting the blow. Her legs gave out, her vision narrowing sickly, and she started to fall…

* * *

It was difficult to tell what happened next. She was there, but not really there, like a stranger in her own body. The experience have lasted a few minutes, or a full day. She simply couldn't know.

She remembered being immersed in hot water; the feeling of cold metal against her skin; flashing lights and unintelligible voices all around her. She felt something building inside her, a feeling she wasn't familiar with, begging to be released. And though she tried to set it free, it stayed lodged inside, resisting her will. It hurt worse than whatever the men in lab coats were doing to her.

Eventually, all the strain being put on her stopped, the men retreating away from her.

"That's enough for the week. Wouldn't want to break it."

"Right. Take it back to its cage."

Hands closed around her arms and lifted her off the ground. Blake closed her eyes, relieved that it was finally over.

* * *

She woke up back in the bed of her new room, feeling sore all over. She sat up and hung her legs over the edge of the bed, lowering her head a bit. The world was spinning slowly around her.

"Hey."

She looked up and saw her neighbor sitting cross-legged on the other side of the wall that separated them. Blake dropped carefully to the floor, then crawled towards him. The boy looked her up and down, smiling bitterly.

"Damn. They went really rough on you," he said. "But at least you survived. The first time's always the worst, because you're can't be prepared for it."

"W-what?" Blake closed her eyes forcefully, trying to fight off her dizziness. "What did they do to me?"

"Nothing."

Blake wanted to protest, but something about his stare told her that would lead to nothing. He didn't look like a kid, not with those dead serious eyes.

"My name's Adam," he said, breaking the silence. "What's yours?"

Blake bit her lip, wondering if it was smart to tell him something like that. But he had trusted her with his name, so… "Blake. Blake Belladonna."

"That's a pretty name," Adam said. "I'm ten. You?"

"Seven… Exactly seven."

"Wow. Exactly seven?" Adam smiled. "Happy birthday, Blake."

She giggled softly, then immediately covered her mouth with her hands. What was she doing, laughing in this strange place, imprisoned by a bunch of weird people and without a clue where her parents…

All at once, the dam broke loose. Blake hugged her legs and buried her head between her knees, her whole body trembling beyond control.

"Hey. Come on," Adam called softly. "Don't cry, Blake. That's only going to make you feel worse."

Blake looked up, her eyes red from crying. "How c-can I? My parents are gone. My friends are gone. I-I don't even know where I am. I'm all alone."

Adam leaned forward and pressed his hand against the glass. "You have me."

Blake stared at him, and slowly, the tears stopped flowing. She reached forward and pressed her own hand opposite to his.

"See? It's not all bad," Adam smiled. "I think we're going to be very good friends, Blake."

* * *

The days passed by slowly. In her cage, Blake had little else to do but lay on her bed and talk to Adam. She tried to sleep as much as she could, but that was barely any relief, as she often dreamed of her parents and home. It only made her current predicament worse.

Adam's prediction turned out to be true. Maybe it was the isolation, or maybe it was the animosity they shared towards their captors, but they grew close quickly.

Adam didn't have much to tell about himself. His last name was Taurus. He had been captured a long time ago, one of the first kids brought into wherever they were. That was as much as he had told her. He was more interested in hearing Blake talk, and she was happy to do it. Talking about home meant it was still a part of her life, waiting for her to come back. If she didn't... it was gone forever.

Once a week – or so they thought, as there was no real way for them to keep track of the days – the men came to take them to their labs. Everyone got it at least once. Blake had given up putting up a fight after the first few times, but Adam always resisted.

One day, as they were sitting back-to-back on their glass wall, Blake watched as a pair of the scientists dragged away another kid, this one with tiny antlers on his head.

"Adam?" She spoke. "Why are all the kids here faunus?"

Adam looked at her over his shoulder and smiled. Blake glared at him mildly, recognizing that look. He had a habit of doing that when she made these questions, as if she was a baby and he was an all-knowing grown-up.

"You know why, Blake," he said. "The humans think we're filth. Worse than filth. Just nothing. So they have no problem with treating us like lab rats."

"Why would they think that?" Blake frowned. "We're not that different. Just because I have cat ears doesn't mean I'm worse than them."

"Yeah. I know. If anything, _we're_ the better ones," Adam scoffed. "Ever see a human stumbling around in the dark? It's pathetic. They can't see crap. And we have much better reflexes."

He stood up and turned around. Blake followed him with her eyes, paying close attention to his words.

"You wanna know the truth, Blake? They're afraid of us. They know the only reason faunus don't own everything is because we don't have the numbers. And you know _why_ that is?" Adam's fists clenched at his sides. "It's because they exterminated us by the millions, so they could stay on top! And they keep doing that to this day!"

"I-I never heard of that..." Blake gulped. "You know, in school? Don't you think there would be books and stuff?"

"No, Blake. Of course not. They don't want us to know," Adam crouched down and tapped a finger to the glass, where her forehead would have been. "Because then little girls like you would grow up knowing that the humans are evil and go fight them. They'd rather keep you a docile and clueless puppet."

Blake turned away, pressing her back on the glass again. She heard Adam sit down too, then sigh.

"I'm sorry. It's not your fault," he said. "Your parents only wanted to keep you safe, I guess."

Blake nodded slightly. "How do you know all that, Adam?"

"You know. Living in the real world," he paused. "The streets. You get to know how stuff really is."

Blake closed her eyes and leaned her head back, imagining it was touching Adam's. "I know now," she whispered. "Thank you, Adam."

They spent a long time in silence after that conversation. Eventually, Blake heard a knock on the glass and turned to look at Adam. He had the most serious expression she had seen on him yet, as if something had changed… as if for the first time, he was truly looking at her.

"Blake, the next time the humans come to take you…" he said. "…don't eat the bread."

"Why?" Blake asked.

"It's…" Adam frowned, as if debating if he should continue talking. "I think they put something in it, some kind of drug that makes the pain of the experiments better. So we don't die."

"Wait, you want me to die?!" Blake exclaimed.

"No! I mean, it just makes it less likely! Trust me, I've done it before, and I'm still here," Adam sighed. "Just pretend you ate it."

" _Why_?"

"Blake. I'm your friend. You can trust me," Adam smiled. "Okay?"

"…Okay."

* * *

The food came a couple days later, the same bread as always. Blake approached it hesitantly, shooting Adam a look. He nodded encouragingly and made a tearing gesture with his hands.

Blake sat down and took the bread in her hands, then started to tear it into tiny pieces, trying to make it look like she had eaten some of it. To add another touch to the ruse, she took a few crumbles and peppered the area around her mouth with them. Then she went back to her bed and laid down, pretending to be drowsy.

Sometime later, the door of her cage lowered and the humans came in. She let them lift her to her feet and drag her away without resisting, winking subtly to Adam as the distance between them grew.

The other times she had been taken away, she had been barely aware of her surroundings, but now she could see the grey metal hallways they took her through, passing by rooms where other scientists conducted their own experiments. The sound of machines and screams echoed endlessly on her ears.

Eventually, the humans took a sharp turn and entered a room. They let go of her, and Blake plopped to the ground, keeping up her facade. A man in a white lab coat approached, looking down at her while twisting his nose.

"Get it off the ground and on the operating table," he said. "Jordan, begin the preparatory procedures."

The men who had brought her in lifted her up and put her down on a cold metal table, then left the room without a word. A younger man was at her side, preparing something she couldn't quite see.

Blake looked around the room, careful to not move her head too much. Syringes, knives, all kinds of medical utensils. An open locker holding several jars of liquids, none of which she knew, but was sure weren't any good for her. And at the corner of the room, some kind of metal bathtub with a transparent top, filled with bubbling water.

A hand closed around her arm, making the hair on the back of Blake's neck rise. She looked to the side and saw the scientist's aide holding up a wicked-looking syringe. Forgetting that she was supposed to be docile, Blake hissed and slapped his hand, knocking the syringe off of his hold.

"Well, well, well," the lead scientist approached the table. "Someone didn't take its medicine. Too bad."

"What do we, Dr. Brown?" The aid asked, frowning. "We were going to proceed to the next phase today, but the subject is in no state to-"

"It doesn't matter. Inject it with the formula and we'll carry on," the doctor clucked his tongue. "We've got plenty of good subjects, we can afford to lose this one. Besides, if it doesn't die, it'll learn a valuable lesson."

"Alright, sir."

The aid bent down and picked up the syringe, emptying its contents on a sink before filling it back up with another fluid. Blake jumped off the table and backed away towards the door. The doctor just watched, smiling in amusement when she turned the knob and discovered she was locked in.

"You can't do this," Blake said. "Someone will find me. My parents will. And then you'll be in real trouble."

"Is that a threat?" Dr. Brown raised an eyebrow. "Why. I don't think you are in any position to be making threats… or even talking, for that matter."

He closed the distance between them and grabbed her by the shoulders, dragging her back towards the table. Blake struggled, but he was much bigger and stronger than her. The aid finished preparing the syringe and stabbed her in the arm suddenly and without care.

The injection was painful, but it lasted only a few seconds. The real pain started when it was over and her body started to convulse, her organism fighting against itself. The world spun fast around her, her senses becoming far too sensible for her to withstand.

Blake regained her awareness in a couple minutes, but by then, she was already being carried to the bathtub. She snarled and squirmed, trying to escape the scientists' hold, but it was to no avail.

They dropped her in the water unceremoniously and closed the lid above her. Blake rose to the surface, gasping for air. The water felt lukewarm, which was strange to her, since she could clearly see bubbles popping from sheer heat and vapor gathering on the glass.

"Wait! I'm sorry!" She yelled, knocking against the lid. "Please! I promise I won't-"

Her words were replaced by a shrill scream. Suddenly the bubbles made a lot of sense, her skin burning up, turning red. Something else was seeping into the water, a foamy substance that stung like fire.

Immersed in the pain, she lost track of time. All she could see through her blurry vision was the form of the two scientists watching her from the other side of the glass. Her ears felt hollow, and she worried she was going deaf.

The feeling was back, the one that always happened during these experiments, but this time, she was feeling it ten times over, like waves crashing against upon her, dragging her down. She felt smaller and smaller, while inside her, something grew, bubbling to the surface and trying to hammer its way out.

The pain flared, and just as quickly as it had come, it faded. The boiling water didn't bother her anymore.

Blake heard muttering, then the lid opened. She sat up, fresh air brushing against her face, and shook her head slightly. She felt oddly reinvigorated, as if she had woken up after a full night of sleep.

She turned her head to look at the scientists and saw the aid going to grab her. She narrowed her eyes dangerously and moved to the side, dodging his grab. His hands closed around her. Except... it wasn't her... but it was her.

Blake stared in utter confusion as the aid lifted her out of the water and put her down on the ground. As soon as her feet touched the floor, her form dissolved into shadows and faded from existence.

"…What?" The aid blinked in disbelief.

Dr. Brown turned back to the bathtub and smiled, his eyes falling onto Blake. "We did it. We triggered its Semblance," he said. "Some kind of… cloning process, it appears. Further testing is necessary."

He reached for her, but Blake jumped off the water, kicking against the edge of the bathtub and rolling on the floor away from him. The aid lunged at her, attempting to wrap his arms around her.

Blake stepped back, leaving an identical clone of herself where she had been standing. She shook her head and covered her mouth. She didn't know how she was doing it, but this whole process of multiplying herself was leaving her dizzy, and her stomach was starting to turn.

The aid hesitated for a brief moment, then stepped through her clone and backhanded her across the cheek. Blake's head snapped to the side, but that was all the blow did. She faced him again and caressed her cheek, eyes wavering.

"Do I have to do everything myself?" Dr. Brown grunted, walking to them. "Here, you little beast."

He took something from behind his back and pressed it to her arm. Blake grit her teeth, feeling a jolt of electricity pass through her, and fell.

* * *

The men tossed her back in her cage and left, closing the door behind them. Blake scrambled to her knees, breathing shakily, and looked down at her hands.

What was she? What had they done to her? And _w_ _hy_?

"Blake!" Adam called, standing at the other side of the glass. "Are you okay?"

She rose to her feet and shook her head. "They… did something, and…" she gasped. "They shocked me…"

She fell back to her knees, quivering in pain.

"What the…" Adam said. "What is _that_?"

Blake looked at him, then followed his line of sight and saw a clone behind her. She must have made it without even noticing, which shouldn't be a surprise, since she didn't even know how to do it willingly.

She stood up and walked to her clone. She touched it – her? - hesitantly, afraid it might spring to life and attack her, but it showed no reaction. Its eyes were dull, and her face was stuck in a pained expression.

The clone felt soft. Softer than she was herself, but still somewhat solid. She wondered how much strain it could take. Blake pushed against it with an open palm, and the clone promptly dissipated.

"They did it. You have it too," Adam said, his face devoid of emotion. "Blake, this is… fantastic."

She turned to face him, frowning. "What do you mean?"

"Blake…" A smile formed on his lips. "We're going to break out of here."


	2. Freaks

Blake stared at Adam, struggling to understand what he was saying. Not only was she still dizzy from being shocked in the lab, but discovering she could create clones of herself – or whatever those things were – was just too much for her mind to process.

She pressed a hand against the glass, leaning heavily on it. Adam stopped talking immediately, concern evident in his face. "Sorry. I got carried away," he said. "We'll, uh, talk about this later. Go rest. You'll feel better when you wake up."

Blake nodded weakly, then limped over to her bed and plopped down on it, pressing her face against the hard mattress.

She wasn't just a lab rat, she was also a freak. A freak with no family, stuck in some inhumane hole where there was no hope of anyone ever finding and saving her. There was Adam, and the others kids, but they were just as bad she was. No wonder they were all here together.

She hugged her knees and shut her eyes, trying her hardest to fall asleep. Hours passed before she finally did.

* * *

"Blake?" She heard him call hesitantly. "You awake?"

Blake shifted in her bed, turning her back to him. She blinked a few times, the bright light of her cage hurting her puffy eyes.

"Blake?" Adam called again. "I know you're hurt, but it's been days. It's not good for you to lay there all the time."

She covered her ears, trying to block out the sound of his voice, but Adam only spoke louder.

"Come on, Blake!" He exclaimed, anger seeping into his voice. "Stop being a child! You have to get up eventually, or we're never gonna get out of this place!"

" _Shut up_!" Blake screeched, turning around abruptly and sitting up. "I don't _want_ to get out!"

Adam stepped back, startled by her sudden outburst. "What do you mean you don't want to get out?" He asked, his eyes narrowing. "Do you want to be a lab rat forever, is that it?"

"Yes! If that's what's gonna happen… yes," she said. "We're here for a reason. We're freaks."

" _We_?" Adam crossed his arms.

"Don't treat me like I'm dumb," Blake glared at him. "I heard what you said before. _You_ _have it too_. It means you're also a freak."

Adam just stared at her for a moment, then scoffed and threw his arms up. He turned around and walked to his bed, sitting down on it with his back to her. "Fine. Give up. See if I care."

"I'm not giving up!" She exclaimed. "I never said I would try anything!"

Adam lied down, ignoring her. Blake returned to her former position, grinding her teeth angrily.

* * *

The humans came earlier than usual, opening her door while everyone else was still sleeping. Blake was ready for them, having been woken up by their bringing her food even earlier. She hadn't eaten any of it.

One of the men entered, casting a look at the untouched plate at a corner of the cage. "You didn't eat." He said threateningly.

Blake got off her bed and walked to him. She stopped right before him and looked up at him unflinchingly. "Force me."

He glanced at his partner, then shrugged. "Your loss."

They grabbed her by the arms and took her through the same hallways as before. This time, Blake wasn't subtle at all as she examined her surroundings, taking in and memorizing everything she could. One of the men noticed her doing so and slapped her in the face, but that only stopped her momentarily.

They pushed through a set of metal doors, pushing her in front of them. Blake slapped their hands away when they tried to grab her again, then looked around. This wasn't the same laboratory as before. That one had been compact, almost too small for comfort. This one was big, with lots of different and complicated-looking equipment.

The same doctor as before – Brown, she remembered his name very well – approached them, carrying a clipboard and pen in his hands. "Welcome back." He said, shooting her a wry smile.

Blake made to jump at him, but the men behind her grabbed her by the shoulders. "It isn't dosed, sir." One of them warned.

"Ah. Rebellious, now? Or maybe it enjoyed the pain from last time," Dr. Brown tilted his head towards her curiously. "Well, if you want to make things difficult for yourself, that's fine. I can't take that decision from you. But I expect full compliance, or else things will get _more_ than difficult for you."

Blake pursed her lips. She looked around, searching for anything to use as a weapon, but everything was too far away, and she doubted she could put up a fight with these men anyway. She faced the doctor and nodded.

"Good," he looked at the men. "You're dismissed."

He turned and walked to a metal chair, gesturing towards it. Blake followed cautiously, expecting him to attack her or inject her with something. When he didn't, she breathed in deep and sat on the chair, keeping her legs tensed to run at the first sign of trouble.

"This is going to be different than the others procedures. Now that your Semblance is awakened, there is no need to inflict you any great pain," he shot her a meaningful look. "Unless you make it necessary."

"I got it." Blake muttered grudgingly.

"I hope so," Dr. Brown signaled for a nearby aid to get closer. "We're going to check her for everything, discover what others changes her awakening might have caused in her organism."

The aid nodded, then walked away to gather some instruments. Dr. Brown looked down at his clipboard and scribbled something in it, while Blake stared suspiciously.

" _Her_?"

"What?" He asked, not looking up.

"You said _her_ ," she said. "Not _it_."

"Did I?" The doctor smiled. "Yes. It is only expected, considering how cooperative you've decided to be. I think you are beginning to understand that you have to earn the respect you want, hmm?"

Blake frowned, not knowing what to make of his words. He was being nice now? Or nicer than before. Before, when she had kicked and screamed and tried to escape without giving her actions a second thought.

"What's your name again?" Dr. Brown asked. "I'm terribly forgetful."

"Blake," she answered quietly. "Blake Belladonna."

"Well, then, _Blake_ ," he looked up at her. "I have some questions for you, and I'd like you to answer them as honestly as possible. Nothing personal. It's just to make sure everything is working well in that head of yours."

"O-okay."

"Thank you. Now let's get started…"

* * *

The process seemed to take hours, and by the end of it, Blake was feeling tired physically and mentally. They had taken a bit of her blood, which left her feeling a little dizzy too. Despite that, she insisted on walking back to her cage, and to her surprise, Dr. Brown allowed it, though accompanied by his usual helpers, of course.

She realized halfway there that this was perhaps her best chance of escaping. She could turn a corner and make a run for it, maybe hide in a room along the way and lose her escorts.

She shook her head, dismissing the idea. They were much taller and stronger than her, and she could bet they were faster too. Her outrunning them was as unlikely as her defeating them in a fight.

And… well, nothing bad had happened so far. This session had been surprisingly painless, aside from giving some blood. And her escorts weren't being rough with her or anything.

They arrived at her cell, one of the men going over to the side and typing a code in a digital lock on the wall. He was standing between her and it, so Blake couldn't see what the code was, unfortunately. Maybe she should do something about that next time.

The door lowered, and Blake entered hesitantly. It closed behind her, locking her in. She looked around, unsure of what to do, until her eyes came across Adam's. They weren't receptive at all.

Blake looked away, shoulders slumped, and sat on her bed. Adam shook his head and turned his back to her.

A few minutes later, a human woman appeared before her door and lowered a plate to the ground, sliding it inside. She smiled to her, then walked away. Blake sat still for a moment, then hesitantly approached the plate.

Rice. A piece of fried fish. A cup of juice. Two chocolate cookies. There was a spoon but no knife and fork, but the fish was already cut. She took a little bit of rice and brought it to her mouth, chewing slowly. It tasted real, not modified at all.

This was… real food.

She began to eat fast, almost forgetting to chew. It was a wonderful sensation, which made her regret how she hadn't truly appreciated food when she always had it at home.

Home…

Blake smiled. Behind her, she heard Adam scoff and turn in his bed.

* * *

From then on, the sessions on the lab became more frequent, sometimes not even a day passing before she was called back for more tests.

The nature of the tests never got quite an intense as the one which had awakened her powers. She now understood, from hearing bits and pieces of Dr. Brown talking with the other humans, that what she had was called a Semblance, and that a great deal of physical and psychological stress had been needed to awaken it.

Her ability to create clones advanced steadily under the doctor's careful watch. She discovered how to do it at will and without suffering any ill consequences. These clones were still seemingly lifeless, but with great effort, she could get them to mimic some small movements, like a hand gesture or turning their head.

There was something else about her Semblance, something that, if she had understood it correctly, was not unique to her. She rarely got injured now, as if there were an invisible force protecting her body from harm. An Aura, as Dr. Brown had called it. He tested it very extensively, with all sorts of unpleasant methods, but it proved quite resilient to damage.

She continued to get better care in her room, from actual food, to a soft pillow for her bed and some new clothes. She had even been allowed to take a much-needed shower by herself.

But while everything else was getting better and better, there was one thing that remained bad: Adam. They talked at all since their argument. Blake would like to think she didn't care about that, but the truth was… she needed a friend, and Adam had been a good one while it lasted. She only wished he would quit being so stubborn.

* * *

Blake swallowed the last of her orange juice and set the cup aside. She sighed contently, savoring the aftertaste, then moved on to what was left of her fish. Her fork was midway to her mouth when she heard Adam speak up.

"You know that is really racist, right?" He asked, leaning on the glass between their rooms. "Nah. I'm just being a jerk. Surely they just _guessed_ you liked fish, it had nothing to do with you being a cat faunus."

Blake gave him a weird look, then put the fish in her mouth and ate very slowly, keeping eye contact. Adam rolled his eyes.

"I'm just saying," he shrugged. "They didn't offer _me_ fish."

Blake swallowed. "What do you mean?"

"They offered me other stuff. I mean, nobody really knows a bull's favorite food off the top of their head," Adam explained. He looked away for a moment, his expression thoughtful, then winced. "Ugh. I'm lucky they didn't offer me grass."

Blake took the plate off her lap and laid it down on the bed by her side, then got up on her feet and walked closer to him. "They offered you food? Why didn't you take it?"

"Because I'm not dumb enough to fall for their tricks."

Blake glared at him and started to turn around to get back to her food, realizing this was going to be another one of his tirades against their 'captors'. Before she could, Adam knocked on the glass and leaned closer.

"I'm sorry. I'm not being helpful. I just want you to understand what's happening here," he said. "Blake, you think those humans are being nice to you because you're going along with the tests, but you're wrong. They're afraid of you. They know how much trouble you could give them if you were angry, so they're keeping you happy by giving you those stupid privileges like fish and juice and not being electrocuted."

Blake crossed her arms, refusing to look him in the eye. "You're wrong," she said. "I think you're just upset at me because you're not getting all the stuff I'm getting. But all you need to do is behave, work with Dr. Brown, and then you'll-"

" _Dr. Brown_? Oh, that's just great. We're calling them by their names now? If that's even his real name..." Adam shook his head. "Blake, how many times have you seen them take me away since you got your powers?"

Blake frowned. She had seen them take him away, surely. They were always bringing kids to the laboratories. But… Adam…

"Exactly," Adam said. "Now that they have you, I'm worthless to them. Trying to experiment on me is more trouble than it's worth. It's only a matter of time before they get rid of me."

"Adam!" Blake exclaimed. "Stop it already! They're not going to get rid of you or… or anything!"

"Yes, they are," Adam sighed. "Listen, Blake. You said we are freaks, but we're not. We're just people. But not to Dr. Brown or any of his buddies," he paused. "To them, we were freaks even before we got our powers."

Blake turned away and returned to her bed. She looked at her food and pushed it away slightly, feeling Adam's eyes boring into her.

"I'm warning you, Blake. One day, they're gonna run out of uses for you, and then they'll get rid of you too," Adam said. "You need to do something before that happens. Hopefully you'll realize I was right once I'm gone."

He went back to his bed and lied down, staring at the ceiling, not saying another word. Blake stared in silence, her heart beating fast inside her chest.

* * *

"Dr. Brown?"

The human man ignored her, continuing to write on his clipboard without as much as casting a glance at her. Blake looked anxiously at the electrodes attached to her head, wondering if he would remove them anytime soon. They had been done with the testing for a while now.

"Dr. Brown." She called again, a little louder.

He looked at her, appearing quite irritated for a moment, but that was quickly substituted by an apologetic expression as he put his clipboard down on a table and went on to remove the electrodes from her.

"I beg your pardon," he muttered quickly. "Sometimes I get too engrossed in my work, as you very well know by now."

"It's fine," Blake said. "I… wanted to ask you a question. It's not about the tests or anything, but…"

"Go ahead," he nodded, removing the last electrode and retrieving his clipboard. "You're always free to ask me anything, Blake. I want you to always remember that, okay?"

"Okay," Blake paused briefly, wondering if she really should go on with her question. But he had given her the go ahead, so… "Why did you use to call me _it_?"

Dr. Brown's pen ceased moving, his eyes slowly turning to look at her. He cleared his throat. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I just… I was just curious," Blake smiled nervously. "You know, it's just kinda weird, and Adam was saying that…" She stopped, screaming mentally at herself. Was there any worse way to throw Adam under the bus? "I-it doesn't matter."

"Alright. Remember, Blake, that is all in the past," Dr. Brown smiled. "Now how about you get back to your room and rest a little, hmm?"

Blake got up and turned towards the door. Dr. Brown walked past her briskly and opened it, leaning out to whisper in a guard's ear. His voice was so low, no human should be able to hear him from the distance Blake was to him…

Unfortunately for him, she was no human.

"Get rid of the bull. Get it out of its cage, take it somewhere else, and, I don't know, drown it or something. Be careful with its Semblance."

"Sir? Why now?"

"It doesn't matter to you. Just do it. But take the cat back to its cage first, and make sure it's asleep when you take the bull."

"Yes, sir."

Blake stopped, her blood freezing. Dr. Brown looked back at her and smiled, beckoning her closer. She swallowed dry and continued walking, her heartbeat echoing deafeningly in her ears.

"See you tomorrow, Blake." Dr. Brown said, closing the door behind her.

Blake looked at the guard, who looked back at her emotionlessly. She forced herself to smile and began walking, followed closely by him.

Adam was right. They were all just pretending, and they were going to get rid of him now. And if he had been right about that… it meant he was also right about her being next.

Curbing her panic as best she could, Blake began to search desperately for a plan. She couldn't run. She couldn't fight her escort either, he was too strong and he had a taser hidden somewhere, she knew it. Maybe she could trick him and disappear, but he would eventually realize what was going on and then she would be in trouble, as would Adam.

They reached the hallway with the cages, passing by various empty ones. They would soon arrive at hers. Time was running short. She needed to do something _now_ …

Blake slowed down. Holding in her breath, she stopped, making a clone of herself which kept walking next to the guard, who was oblivious to the change. She bent her knees and clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms to keep up the facade. She had never tried anything so intense with her Semblance before. One moment of weakness, and her plan would be ruined.

The guard stopped before her cage. Blake stopped her clone and turned it around. The man cast a glance at its lifeless face, shrugged, and started to type into the digital lock. The wall lowered into the ground.

"Well, then," he said, staring at the clone. "Go in. Your food will come shortly."

When it didn't move, he huffed in exasperation and laid a hand on its shoulder, as if to guide it inside. Right as he put pressure, the clone dissipated. The man blinked in surprise, his mind slow to register what had just happened.

Blake yelled and pushed him from behind with all her strength, shoving him inside the cage. She raced to the lock and inputted the code, which she had memorized from her other walks back. The wall came back up, trapping him inside. The guard screamed and punched the glass, but it was no use.

She walked over to Adam's cage and knocked on the glass. He got up from his bed and turned around, his eyes widening as he realized she was outside. Blake smiled and went to his lock, hoping the same combination would free him…

It did. Adam stepped out, his lips parting in a grin of relief. "I haven't been out here for weeks. Blake…" He laid a hand on her shoulder. "I knew I could trust you. Thanks."

Blake hugged him. He didn't react for a while, but eventually he returned the gesture. She felt small compared to him, but also safe. How she wished they had never fought at all...

"Sorry I didn't believe you," she muttered against his chest. "Dr. Brown was going to have you… you know…"

"Yeah. It's okay. Everything's okay now," Adam stepped back, looking around. "So, we're out of our cages now… But how do we get out of this place?"

"I kinda remember some stuff, but not a lot… They didn't let me look around, obviously." Blake said.

"We wing it, them," Adam said. "But first, we get everyone else out. What's the combination?"

"Zero six one six."

"Okay. Let's get to work."

Adam went to the next cage, quickly typing in the code and freeing another kid. Blake smiled, stepping towards him, but stopped when she heard the guard still knocking on the glass behind her.

Blake turned around, put her hands on her hips, and stuck her tongue out at him.

"See you never again, loser!"

* * *

It didn't take long for them to free everyone, as all the kids were quite eager to help and escape too, as expected. Although Blake didn't bother to count, she could see there were at least thirty of them, most of them around her age, except a couple who were closer to Adam's.

They moved through the hallways of the facility as quietly as they could, but their numbers made that very difficult, along with their fear and desperation. Adam had to raise his voice several times to keep the younger kids to from running ahead of the rest.

It was bound to happen that they would come across some humans, but luckily none of them had been guards yet, all easily dealt with. They didn't have any idea where they were going, but Blake had a feeling they were going in the right direction. She thought she heard cars in the distance, her hope growing quickly…

And then the lights went red and an alarm started to blare, making some of the kids scream in pain because of their heightened hearing. Blake herself had to cover her ears.

Adam grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. "Don't panic. Everything's okay, remember?" He whispered to her, then raised his voice so the rest of the kids could hear. "Everybody! Don't panic! We just have to keep moving!"

He marched forward, Blake struggling to keep on her feet as he dragged her along with him. It was frustrating, but at the same time, she probably would have stayed behind if he left her there.

They walked for a long time, the alarm never stopping, but as Blake got used to it, she could _swear_ she was hearing the distant noise of wheels and honking… Yes, there was a road nearby! They were almost there!

Finally, they turned a corner and saw, at the end of a long hallway, a set of double doors with sunlight slipping under it. Unfortunately, between them and the doors were a group of guards wielding guns and tasers, and in front of them, Dr. Brown himself.

The alarm stopped. The silence that followed was almost worse than it.

"Now, now," Dr. Brown spoke, joining his hands behind his back. "Kids, you can still turn back now and get right back in your cages. It's not too late."

"Screw you, you old bastard!" Adam shouted, getting in front of the kids to face the human. "We're gonna go right through you if that's what it takes!"

"Of course! I should have figure _you_ would be one leading this little rebellion!" Dr. Brown smiled nastily. "Forget what I said. The kids can go back, but you - you sorry waste of air – you're going in the ground!"

He pointed forward, and the guards opened fire. The kids screamed, some getting hit and falling to the ground, but most of the bullets landed on their intended target. Blake screamed as she watched Adam be showered by the projectiles, which seemingly entered him and made him stumble and grunt in pain.

Dr. Brown raised his hand, ordering his men to stop. Blake reached to touch Adam, but just as her hand was about to wrap around his, he raised his head and smiled.

"You…" He said roughly. "You humans are all a bunch of arrogant pieces of shit, aren't you?"

He screamed hoarsely, thrusting his arms around. A beam of red energy shot out of the palms of his hands, blocking the view of the humans. An unbearable heat washed over Blake, forcing her to turn away and crouch. The lights went out, and smoke filled the air.

"Aaah… Urgh…" Adam groaned. "I've been saving that for a long time…"

Blake looked up. Half of the humans had disappeared, the rest were on the ground, dead or unconscious – none of them safe from horrible injuries. Dr. Brown was one of the survivors, but without an arm and a leg, that wouldn't last for long.

Adam walked over to him. Blake followed quietly, for some reason unable to look away from the carnage. It was horrible, scary, nauseous… but at the same time, she had an unexplainable urge to laugh in relief.

"Well, then," Adam grinned. "How the mighty have fallen."

Dr. Brown opened an eye, glaring straight at him, then Blake. "You two… You're so… stupid," he coughed. "What have you accomplished? Tell me. You're gonna step out there… and you're going to have _nothing_ … because you don't belong in this world. You're worthless. You have no place. All you animals do is wait for someone to come along and-"

Blake stepped forward and kicked him in the head.

Something snapped.

Blake covered her mouth with a hand, stepping back in horror. Adam looked at her, smiled sadly, and put an arm around her shoulders.

"He had it coming," he whispered. "Let's get out of here, everyone."

He walked forward, leading her along, and pushed open the doors. Sunlight poured over their faces, almost blinding them. The air brushed against their skin, soothing and oh so wonderful.

They stepped into wet grass, tall foliage blocking most of their vision. A kid walked forward, parting the bushes to reveal a busy highway not so far in front of them.

"What now?" Blake muttered.

"What now?" Adam repeated. "Now… now we're free."


	3. Almost slip away

"A secret facility researching Semblance by means of faunus experimentation," Director Ozpin took off his glasses and wiped them on his shirt. "I would like to say this is new to me, but I would be lying. Still, your account is by far the most chilling I've heard."

"I'm glad you can sympathize." Blake said dryly.

"Do you remember anything else about your time in that facility? A company name, logo, anything of the sort?" Ozpin asked. "These kinds of organizations are secretive, I know, but there is always the possibility of them leaving exposed something incriminating."

Blake crossed her arms, trying to think of anything like that. Unfortunately, she had never seen much outside her cage during those days, and the humans she interacted with were always the same – nameless, except for Dr. Brown, which she was sure was not his real identity.

"No," she said finally. "The facility was somewhere in the south of Vacuo. But they probably tore it down, destroyed all traces of it, and moved on after our escape."

"Yes, that sounds likely. Speaking of your escape," Ozpin tilted his head towards her. "What happened afterwards? Did you go back home to your parents? Or were you not able to find them?"

"I always knew where they were. There were missing child notices about me – maybe there still are, somewhere online," Blake said. "But, no… I didn't go back. I stayed with Adam and the others."

* * *

The cashier's eyes would not leave her, not for a second. She could even see, from the corner of her vision, him leaning behind his counter to stare at her when she disappeared behind a rack. It was annoying, but not unexpected.

"Miss?" He called. "You going to be finished anytime soon?"

Blake shot him a scathing look, then picked up a bag of chips and shook it close to her ears. Half filled with chips, half filled with air. The classic rip-off.

She sighed, taking a half-dozen more bags, then deposited them in her bag along with the water bottles and other foods. She fished in the pocket of her jacket for her money and took half of it, which wasn't much, definitely not enough to pay for what she was taking.

She walked around the rack and returned to the counter, handing over the money without saying a word. The cashier took it cautiously, then counted the notes one by one.

"Miss, this is not enough," he said, eyes straightening. "You're missing… sixteen lien. And that's not counting the stuff you're hiding under your jacket."

She shrugged and started to turn away. The cashier grunted angrily and leaned over the counter to grab her by the shoulder, but as soon as he touched her, she dissipated into thin air.

"W-what?"

Outside of the convenience store, Blake went over her new items one more time, just to make sure she hadn't missed anything, then walked away.

* * *

Adam and the others hadn't moved from where she had left them, keeping to their promise that they would wait for her. Considering the fact that they were depending on her to bring them food and water, it wasn't that uplifting of a gesture, but she was still happy.

They had made camp a little ways after the edge of town, hidden behind a small dune in the desert. She smelled smoke and fire and heard them murmuring to each other. They had learned to be quiet after some unfortunate encounters with local police forces and angry townsfolk.

She walked around the dune and approached the camp, seeing the group sitting around a small campfire. There were seven of them now, including Adam and herself. Over the three years since their escape, a lot of the kids had left them, gone missing, or…

She didn't like to dwell on what had happened to most of them.

"Blake!" Adam called, standing up. "You got the stuff?"

"Yep," she said, handing him the bag. She took a water bottle from under her jacket and sat down to drink it. "It's not much, but there's only so much I can carry without raising suspicion."

"Yeah, I know. You did a great job, Blake, as always," he nodded, then shot her a disapproving look. "You payed for it, didn't you?"

"Not all of it," Blake replied casually, ignoring his staring. "If you wanted to steal all that stuff, you should have sent someone else."

"You're our best thief."

"Not my fault."

Adam sighed, then sat down too. Blake uncorked her bottle, then drank from it greedily while watching him distribute the goods to the rest of the group.

"Remember to not drink too much, we're not gonna need water for tomorrow," he said. "Besides, we don't want a Larry incident all over again."

"Oh, come on," Larry, one of the remaining kids, said. "You guys know I have a small bladder."

"We know now," Adam noted gruffly. "Just be sparing, people."

"Why are moving again?" Another kid, Ilia, asked. "This place has been good for us."

"The humans around here are starting to wise up about us. It's only a matter of time before they get fed up and try to get rid of us. Keyword _try_ ," Adam said. "And the further north we go, the better. It's harder for humans to chase us around in the desert, and we can hide better."

"I'm tired of running and hiding." Larry muttered sadly.

"Yeah, buddy. Trust me, I'm tired too." Adam said.

Blake corked her bottle, leaving two thirds of the water still in it. She put it on the ground, then lied down on her side, resting her head on Adam's lap.

"Going to sleep already?" He asked.

"Yeah," she mumbled. "Tired. And we're gonna walk a lot tomorrow."

"Right. Maybe we should follow your example," he said. "Good night, Blake."

"Good night, Adam."

* * *

She woke up to the sharp noise of a gun being cocked. Blake sat up immediately and saw Adam standing before her, staring down the local sheriff, who had three other cops behind him.

"Looks like we finally got you cornered, you freaks," the sheriff said, pointing his shotgun at Adam. "Now be a good pet and follow your commands. Don't bite."

Adam looked over his shoulder at her, then at the rest of the kids, who were also waking up and quickly recognizing the dangerous situation they were in. They murmured to each other and went to stand behind Adam. Ilia's skin had turned yellow, and her hair, green.

"Listen, folks, you don't want to do this," Adam said calmly, raising his hands. "You don't know what you're getting into. If you did, you wouldn't be pointing your shotgun at me."

"Oh, we know exactly what we're getting into," the sheriff spat. "We're gonna finally rid this country of your sorry lives. What, you think we hadn't heard about you before you got to our town? You're lucky you got this far."

"Actually, _you're_ the lucky ones. You and every other human we passed by in our travels," Adam said. "I could kill you without breaking a sweat."

The sheriff raised his shotgun some more, pointing it straight at Adam's head. Blake jumped to her feet and stood between the two of them, spreading her arms desperately.

"Wait! This doesn't have to go this way!" She exclaimed. "Just put down your guns, and we'll move on. Nobody needs to get hurt."

"Oh, yeah? What about the next town you visit?" The sheriff asked. "You're not gonna steal and kill when you get there, is that what you're telling me? 'Cause I know that's exactly what you animals do, I've lived it!"

"We don't kill," Blake stated firmly, lowering her arms. "And we only steal because we need to. How else are we gonna survive?"

"Well, that's not really my problem, now is it?"

"Clearly, it is," Adam said. "You're the one who went after us."

The sheriff frowned, his eyes darting from Adam to Blake to the kids behind them. The cops behind him stared at him anxiously, their fingers twitching on the triggers of their guns. After what felt like an eternity, the sheriff started to lower his shotgun.

From behind her, Blake heard a shrill scream, then saw Larry run from the camp in panic. She opened her mouth to call him back, but he didn't make it past the first dune before a gun rang and he crashed to the ground, lifeless.

"Anybody else wanna make a run for it?" The sheriff asked, cocking his smoking gun.

Blake turned to look at him, her eyes narrowing furiously. She leaped at him, aiming a blow at his head, but he raised his weapon and shot. The clone dissipated, while Blake closed the distance between them, tackling his legs and knocking him to the ground.

Bullets flew above her, but Blake ignored them as she straddled the man and ripped the shotgun from his grip, then knocked him in the forehead with it. He moaned in pain, seeing stars. Blake got up and struck him again, this time on the side of his head, knocking him out for good.

She looked around. Two of the other cops were already down, seemingly not breathing. Adam was walking to the last one, who was unloading the entirety of his pistol's magazine on him, to no effect. Smiling, Adam stopped before him and swiped at him with his glowing red right arm. The human fell without as much as a whimper.

Adam turned brusquely and marched back to the others, shooting Blake a look. "Nice try. You got the sheriff?"

"Yeah." Blake replied instinctively, hoping he wouldn't take a closer look and see the man was still breathing. Luckily, Adam just walked by.

"Alright, guys, we need to skip town _now_ ," Adam said. "If the sheriff was any smart, he must have put some plan in place in case he didn't come back with us soon. Police around here is gonna be hellbent on killing us."

"We need to get Larry," Blake pointed out quietly. "He deserves to be buried."

"Does he? He was the dumbest of the bunch of us, which is saying a lot," Adam sighed, sweeping back his hair. "Yeah. We don't have the time, but let's do it fast."

Blake started towards where the body was, only to stop when she heard a whimper and a gasp. Ilia was sitting on the ground, clutching her stomach, while the other kids crouched around her worriedly. Her fingers were tainted red.

"Shit," Adam muttered, closing his eyes. "Goddamn it."

"We need to help her fast," Blake said, her heart rising to her throat. "I-I can get some stuff from the pharmacy, maybe we can-"

"That's not enough. Look at her, she's shot and bleeding," Adam kicked the ground furiously, lifting a cloud of sand. He took a deep breath, then pointed at Ilia. "Okay. Change of plans. We're gonna have to ditch Larry. Ilia needs a hospital, and the nearest one is in the next town over."

"She's bleeding, Adam!" A kid exclaimed. "We're not gonna get there on time!"

"Sure we are," Adam said. "All we need are wheels."

* * *

They found a van on the road at the end of town and took it from its owner, leaving her perplexed at the side of the street. It would be hard for Blake to deal with the guilt later, but it was easier while she helped lay down the injured Ilia in the backseats.

She climbed on the passenger seat at the front, while Adam took the driver's. He looked at the steering wheel with wide eyes, temporarily lost on what to do, then reached for the accelerator with his foot. The car moved a few meters, then stopped abruptly.

"Alright. I can work with this," he said. "Let's, uh, hope the road is empty today."

After making sure everyone was ready, Adam stomped the accelerator, going at full speed from the get-go. The desert scenery passed by like a blur, and the van wobbled dangerously, but Adam managed to keep it upright, which was impressive considering he had never driven anything before.

Blake tapped her fingers anxiously on her thigh, shooting constant glances at the backseat. They had gotten Ilia's bleeding to stop a little bit by holding some rags to her wound, but she wasn't sure that was the smartest thing to do. The poor girl was fading in and out of conscience constantly, her breathing heavy and irregular. She was in such bad shape, her chameleon heritage wasn't even manifesting as it always did during these stressful situations.

"She's gonna make it, Blake," Adam said, not taking his eyes off the road. "The town's not far. An hour at most, okay?"

"Okay," Blake gulped. "What happens when we get there? What do we do?"

"I don't know. They're probably gonna be assholes, like always, but we'll get the doctors to cooperate," Adam huffed. "I was dumb. Used my charge to kill that cop, but I didn't need to. Should always save it for only the worst stuff."

"Yeah, you really didn't need to." Blake muttered.

Adam looked at her, then shook his head and turned his eyes back to the road. A car passed by them, almost taking off their side mirror. Adam cursed and swerved away from the center of the road.

"You didn't kill the sheriff, did you?" He asked dryly.

"No." Blake answered, lowering her head.

He sighed. "Yeah, I had a feeling you hadn't," he said. "Look, Blake, I get it. You don't wanna kill people, that's fine. But you gotta tell me when you do that stuff so I can do it for you."

"You think that's why I don't kill people? So I don't feel bad?" Blake clenched her fists. She would have punched him in the head if he weren't driving. "It makes no difference whether it's you or me who does the killing. Things aren't that simple, Adam."

"I _know_ , Blake. I don't kill humans because I like it, okay?" He paused to take a look at the backseat through the rearview mirror, then stepped harder on the accelerator, trying to go even faster. "I do it because it's necessary. Because, as far as we know, that sheriff might be calling someone right now to warn them about us, which I don't need to tell you would be _really bad_."

Blake looked away. She could imagine it now, a bunch of police cars catching up to them and forcing them to stop. She and Adam would be fine, but Ilia and the others wouldn't. And all because she wasn't willing to put a little more strength behind her blows.

"Blake, I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. But you have to understand that there are times when you just can't be reasonable. You have to take harsh measures, or else… bad things happen," Adam said. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to, but then you have to let _me_ do it for you. Got it?"

Blake looked back at Ilia, hearing the soft sound of her heart beating, ever so slowly.

"Got it."

* * *

Adam did not slow down when they entered the town, speeding through the streets, almost running over pedestrians and other vehicles. He followed the signs to the hospital, ignoring streetlights until they were finally there.

He didn't bother with parking the van, simply leaving in the middle of the road. Everyone jumped out, and the kids on the back put Ilia on Blake's arms. They marched to the hospital, stepping through the front door without hesitation.

They were immediately met with dozens of curious and dreadful stares from the patients and staff in the entrance hall. Blake inspected the crowd quickly, not surprised that there were no faunus to be found. Adam walked towards the counter, pushing people out of the way, and she followed silently, keeping Ilia's head raised carefully.

"Hey!" Adam shouted. "We need a doctor!"

The assistants behind the counter looked at each other in startle, then one of them turned towards him. She tried to keep a straight face, but her unrest was evident in the way her eyes kept shifting from him to the entrance of the hospital, and her fingers, which were slowly trailing to the side on the counter, searching for something.

"Sir, you need to remain calm," she said. "What is the nature of your friend's injury?"

"Oh, she fell down the stairs," Adam stepped closer, clenching his fists. "She was shot, don't you have eyes, you dumb-"

" _Sir_ ," the assistant interrupted. "Please. Remain calm. Your friend will be tended to, but you must be patient."

"She needs to be _tended to_ right now."

The assistant's hand disappeared under the counter, but Adam quickly took hold of her wrist and pulled it back up. He leaned towards her, showing his teeth in a menacing smile.

"You can call the police after you get my friend a doctor."

The assistant swallowed dry, then looked at her colleagues and nodded. They turned to their computers, clicking fast.

"Dr. Lance, Room 231," one of them said. "He's available."

"Good. One of you is gonna take us there," Adam demanded. "The rest may feel free to panic once we're gone."

The first assistant went around the counter, then stopped before them, her face pale as snow. She nodded stiffly, then started walking towards an elevator to the right. The room was dead silent as they waited for it to come down, feeling the weight of everyone else staring at them.

Finally, the elevator arrived and opened its doors. They stepped inside and the assistant pressed a button, then went to stand at a corner, sweat dripping down her forehead.

Blake looked down at Ilia, grimacing at the sight of her reddened clothes. She had to strain her ears to hear her breathing now, and even then, she wasn't sure she wasn't just convincing herself it was there.

They exited into a hallway, and the assistant lead them to room 231. She opened the door, then stepped back, not sure what to do.

"Blake, you're coming inside with me," Adam said. "You guys stand guard outside."

He went inside, waited for Blake to follow, then closed the door behind her. The room was small, with a surgery table in the middle, a couple cabinets and a desk with a computer. The doctor was sitting in front of the monitor, but as soon as the door closed, he got up and turned to look at them, eyes widening.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked. "I don't have anything scheduled, and nobody contacted me about-"

"Shut up," Adam cut him off and pointed at Ilia. "She was shot. You're gonna make her better."

"Make her better?" The doctor stared at him furiously. "Young man, it is _not_ that simple. I can't just _make her better_. I can see she's been bleeding for a long time, and from the looks of it…"

Blake put Ilia down on the surgery table, then went to the doctor and grabbed him by the shirt. She shoved him to a wall and glared up at him, trembling with fury.

"You're gonna make her better," she said. "Or else."

He stared at her for a moment, then scoffed and pushed her back, breaking out of her hold easily. "I never said I wouldn't try," he said. "I'm a doctor. It is my job to save lives, and I don't need to be threatened to do it."

He walked to the table and looked down at Ilia. He pulled up her shirt to reveal her wound and bent down to examine it up close. After a few moments, he stood, breathing in deeply.

"This is going to be complicated," he looked back at them over his shoulder. "I assume you aren't going to just stand there and watch?"

Blake gulped, unable to look away from the blood. Adam put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll help any way we can," he said. " _Her_. Not you."

"Yes, of course, the distinction is oh so important right now," the doctor rolled his eyes. "Now, open that cabinet over there. I need you to get me a bottle of something, and you had better pay attention, because a dose of the wrong medication could kill your friend. The name is…"

* * *

What followed was probably the worst experience Blake had ever lived in her short, yet troubled life.

Her kidnap had happened so quickly and so out of the blue, she only understood it after it was over. Being experimented had been mind-numbingly painful, which had probably been helpful in the end, since she hadn't felt half of it. Running from police and angry mobs was always an unpleasant endeavor.

But operating on a dear friend, holding her life in her hands, fully aware that, at any moment, she might make a mistake that could very well kill her? It was horrifying, it was bloody, it made her weak from head to toe. She wanted to slip to that familiar place in the back of her mind, the one she had discovered when things got too bad for her to withstand – but she couldn't. Not now. Not when Ilia was depending on her.

So she listened to every word the doctor said, followed his orders without question. Adam seemed to be just as devoted to the task as she was, though she once caught him staring at the doctor with a dangerous look on his face. It didn't last for a second, him quickly returning to work.

The clock kept ticking. Her hands got dirty. She didn't stop.

* * *

"That's enough."

Blake blinked, slowly raising her head to look at the doctor. He took off his plastic gloves and tossed them on a trash can, then wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Barring further complications, your friend will be fine," he said. "All that remains is to stitch the wound, and for that, your help is not needed. Go wait outside."

Adam stepped back, his face still pale from the harrowing procedure. He shook his head lethargically, then buffed out his chest and looked at the doctor.

"We're not going anywhere."

The doctor looked at the ceiling, muttering something under his breath. Adam's stance didn't change.

Blake breathed out, the noise startlingly loud in the small room. She walked to Adam and grabbed his arm, then nodded towards the door. He looked at her, then at Ilia and the doctor… and sighed, letting her drag him out of the room.

"Is she okay?"

"Did the doctor try to hurt her?"

"What happened in there?"

Blake went to a wall and slid down it until she was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees. She blocked out the conversation between Adam and the others, wanting to just forget what had just happened.

Something was nagging her, though. Something important, which even in her exhausted, nearly broken state, she knew she couldn't ignore. She thought about it for a long time, trying to figure out what that was… until it dawned on her.

"Adam," she looked up suddenly. "The police."

His face hardened immediately, and he stepped away from the door, looking down the hall to the elevator they had taken before. There was no sign of police or anything like that, just hospital staff and patients.

"You guys saw nothing?" Adam asked.

"A few cops came up here earlier, but they got a call or something and went back to the elevator," a kid said. "They looked angry, though. No idea why they didn't grab us."

"Something's off," Adam stated resolutely. "Soon as the doctor is done with Ilia, we're taking her and skipping town."

"That's not necessary anymore, young man."

Adam turned immediately at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, already raising his arm to strike, only to see a middle-aged man standing there. He had a gentle smile on his lips, and his face was framed by a mane of graying hair much like that of a lion.

"You don't need to run. Not ever again."

"Who are you?!" Adam exclaimed.

"My name is Joshua Khan. I'm here to…"

Blake jumped to her feet, bending her knees to jump at him. He turned to look at her, and for a moment, it looked as if his smile would disappear… but it only grew, as did the kindness in his eyes.

"Children. There is no need to be scared. I've come only to help," he walked to her and took her hand, squeezing it lightly. Blake twitched, staring at him anxiously. "Tell me, little one… have you ever heard of the White Fang?"


	4. Make your voice heard

Blake winced, covering her eyes as she stepped out into the street and was immediately met with dozens of camera flashes at once. There were so many people outside, reporters and policemen and ordinary citizens, their attentions focused only on the ragtag group of faunus who had shown up out of nowhere to terrorize the hospital.

So many people. Too many people.

She felt an arm slide around her shoulders, then a soft squeeze on her shoulder. She looked up and met eyes with Joshua Khan. He had a warm smile on his face, and just by looking at it, Blake somehow knew that everything was going to be alright.

"Don't worry about these people, Blake. We'll be out of here in no time," Joshua turned to look at Adam, who was standing at his side, gazing at the crowd guardedly. "Adam. You can take everyone to the car and wait there."

He fished a keyring from his pocket and handed them over. Adam looked at them in astonishment, not used at all to the idea of being trusted with something so valuable by an adult, and so casually at that.

"It's right there by the sidewalk, you'll recognize it easily," Joshua said. "Now, there are things I need to clear up with some friends of ours. I won't be long."

He left them, walking towards a car to talk with another man, this one clad in a strange black and white uniform that contrasted with his silver hair. Blake stared for a moment, shuddering slightly as she felt the man look over at her through his shaded spectacles.

"Adam, who's that?" Blake asked.

"I don't know. Probably police, or something like that," Adam said. "Nevermind. Let's go."

He looked back to make sure the other kids were still with them and carrying the recovering Ilia, then started walking. The crowd parted hurriedly to let them pass. Blake clenched her fists, expecting to be grabbed at any moment. The flashes still hadn't stopped.

When they finally passed through the crowd, Adam paused, looking at the many vehicles parked by the sidewalk. "Okay, how are we supposed to know which-" He stopped talking when his eyes fell upon a black van with a white wolf's head painted on its side. "…Yeah, that was easy."

He walked to the van and pressed a button on the keychain, turning it on. He pulled the door open and took a step back, impressed by how spacious the seats at the back were. Shaking his head, he spun around and gestured for everyone to get in.

While the others entered and laid Ilia down, Blake waited with Adam anxiously. "Can you see him from here? Joshua?" She asked. "I'm too short."

"Nope," he clucked his tongue. "Here, let me help you."

He grabbed by the waist and lifted her up, stumbled for a few seconds, then set her down on his shoulders. Blake smiled, blushing a little.

"Can you see him now?"

Blake extended her neck a little to look over the crowd. It was difficult to make anything out with so many camera flashes going off, but between them, she could catch glimpses of Joshua talking to the reporters. The man from before was gone, as was his car.

"Yeah, I can see him," Blake said. "He's talking to the reporters, I think."

"Why would he do that?" Adam asked with a tone of disapproval. "He's drawing too much attention. It would be better to just leave."

"I don't know. Maybe we should ask him later."

Adam put her back down on her feet, frowning. "Or _maybe_ we could just slip away right now, while he's distracted," he said. "He gave me the keys. He can't blame us for taking advantage of that."

"I guess. But… he seems like a good guy," Blake said. "I don't wanna steal from him."

"Yeah, me neither, actually," Adam sighed. "But he better explain what's going on later. This whole 'White Fang' business... I have no idea what's up with that."

Blake nodded, agreeing completely. She remembered hearing that name a long time ago, before she had been kidnapped, probably on television, but she knew next to nothing about it.

A couple minutes passed, then Joshua came out of the crowd and walked to the van. He looked at them and smiled. "You stayed," he said. "Thank you."

He walked around the van and got in the driver's seat, then opened the passenger's door and beckoned them in. Blake and Adam obeyed, her sitting between the two of them.

"Well, then. Everybody's in… Ilia seems to be doing fine…" Joshua said. "Let's get you somewhere safe, kids."

* * *

They took the road north, getting deeper into the desert and further from the more civilized parts of Vacuo. Towns and people became rarer as they went, until they could go on for hours without spotting anything different than sand or lone cactuses in the horizon.

It was a bit unsettling for Blake, but at the same time, it was a great relief. This had been Adam's plan all along, after all: to go north and find themselves a proper home, where they could live without fear of humans coming to hurt them.

But she could tell Adam was not feeling quite the same way. The danger was gone, Ilia was stable and recovering without hitches, but still, he was as strung up as he had been at the hospital. In a strange way, that made her feel better. It meant she could be at ease, but if anything wrong started happening, she knew Adam would notice it immediately and protect her.

"So," Adam said finally, after hours upon hours of silent driving. The sun was setting, giving the desert a mesmerizing orange glow. "What's this White Fang stuff you were talking about?"

Joshua Khan took his eyes off the road to look at him, smiling slightly. "The White Fang is many things. It depends on who you are, and to whom you ask," he said. "To some, the White Fang is a safe haven. To others, it is a force for good, or just the contrary. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide what you'll make of it."

"Okay, that's nice, but it doesn't answer my question." Adam stated gruffly.

Joshua chuckled. "True. Forgive me, I fear my old age is getting to me," he paused. "Do any of you know about the Faunus Rights Movement?"

Blake shook her head, then looked at Adam. He shrugged. They never had the opportunity to read up on world news, or even watch television through shop windows.

"I don't blame you. It was before your time," Joshua said. "The Faunus Rights Movement happened a couple decades ago in Vale. It was a wonderful thing, faunus and humans coming together to demand the fair treatment and compensation of the former, after centuries of strife and tragedies between the two."

"What did they do?" Adam asked.

"Rallies, boycotts, outings and shunning of the racist and divisive. All sorts of things," Joshua explained. "The important thing is, no blood was spilled, and they got what they wanted. Today, faunus in Vale enjoy the same privileges and rights as humans. It is not perfect, of course it's not, but at least children are not barred from school and faunus are not blatantly denied medical treatment."

"Ilia got treatment," Blake said quietly. "They wouldn't have turned her away, right?"

"That, I cannot answer. That is the nasty thing about not having rights, Blake. It's the uncertainty of our own futures," Joshua shook his head. "You see, there will always be racists. Laws can't change that. But laws can force a racist doctor to treat everyone, despite their personal beliefs."

Blake nodded. As a child, she had been blind to it, but these last few years had taught her how being a faunus affected everything in her life. It was why she couldn't stay in one place for more than a couple weeks, why she had to be constantly aware of her surroundings when in a crowd… and it was certainly why some horrible, deranged human scientists had thought it was okay to take her from her family and experiment on her.

"Vale is in a good place today. But the other nations of the world…" Joshua sighed. "Vacuo is a deplorable place for our people. This country was built by the hard work of faunus slaved by human masters. And today, while slavery might _officially_ be outlawed, we still waste our lives away working in Dust mines owned by, you guessed it, humans."

"My father was a miner," Adam said. Blake looked at him in surprise. In three years, this had been the first time he had spoken about his parents. He was always so reserved about his past, she had assumed he had never known them at all. "Not for long, though. He's gone now."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Joshua said. "There are many like you, Adam. Orphans of the mines, some call them," he paused, looking at the road somberly for a moment. "I was young when the Faunus Rights Movement accomplished its goals. We looked to Vale, my friends and I, and then to our own country, and we thought... why can't we have that too?"

"So you founded the White Fang," Blake said. "You wanted to make a movement here too."

"Yes. But what we failed to realize in the beginning were the fundamental differences between the two countries," Joshua stated. "The roots of racism in Vale are predominantly cultural. Here in Vacuo, they are more economic. The rich have a great incentive to keep racism alive over here. And it is much easier to fight the bigoted than it is to fight the rich."

"So what? You still try, right?" Adam asked. "You can't quit just because it's difficult. You try harder."

"Of course. But what is better, to keep a whole generation of faunus fighting every day of their lives, or to provide them with home, health and security?" Joshua posed. "Priorities. We keep fighting, but we work towards a better life for the time while victory is not yet achieved."

Adam shifted in his seat, crossing his arms. Blake frowned, looking at Joshua.

"When we get to the White Fang…" She said. "What are we gonna do? Are we going to fight?"

"I don't know. That's up to you, Blake, and I advise you to give it some time before you make that decision," Joshua answered. "Until then… Just live. Don't you think you deserve that after everything you've gone through?"

Blake looked down at her lap. Joshua didn't know what she had gone through. Sure, he could tell she hadn't exactly been having fun lately, and he probably knew about the trouble they'd caused and faced over the years, but more than that…

He didn't know how she had gotten to where she was. He didn't know who she had been before. And he didn't know what she was now.

Blake tapped her arm, feeling her Aura reverberate from the touch. She turned away from Joshua and leaned against Adam, closing her eyes. She found his hand and squeezed it, then pretended to sleep.

* * *

"Blake. Wake up. I think we're there."

Blake opened her eyes and let go of Adam's arm, sitting up straight in her seat. She leaned forward to look through the van's windshield. They were on a narrow pathway, with two tall rock formations surrounding them from either side. She gulped, suddenly feeling very claustrophobic.

"We use the mountains to hide our base," Joshua said. "And in the unfortunate occasion that someone does know we are here, our sentries can see them coming and alert everyone before they get to us."

"That's smart," Adam said, looking at the mountain on their right. "But how long have you been here? Some powerful people must have figured it out, right?"

"Indeed. But here's where we played it smart and did not let them figure it out, but in fact, _told them_ ," Joshua smiled. "It's important to make friends. Powerful friends. And Beacon has been very supportive of our activities."

"You trusted humans with the location of your home?" Adam turned his head to glare at him. "I'm not feeling very safe anymore."

"Beacon is not a human organization. Neither is it a faunus organization," Joshua said. "It's a people organization."

Adam looked away, grumbling something under his breath. They turned a corner, then another, and another after that, following a snaking road that led them deeper into the mountains.

Blake turned around to look at the kids in the backseat. "Hey, Ilia. How are you doing?"

Ilia sat up, keeping a hand on her belly. "I'm doing better. It still hurts a lot, but not as much as before," she said. "Are we there yet?"

"Almost," Blake answered. "You guys are okay with this, right? We didn't really ask you if you wanted to come along…"

"It doesn't matter where we go, as long as we're together," Ilia said. "I trust you with my life, Blake. Adam too."

The others nodded their agreement. Blake turned to face the road again, smiling slightly. She caught Joshua smiling too at the corner of her vision, but didn't feel comfortable asking why he was doing that.

They turned another corner, finally entering a huge open area. Ahead of them, after a slight decline, was a collection of makeshift houses and tents. They could spot several faunus walking around, the sound of conversations reaching their ears.

Blake drew in her breath, the reality of the situation striking her all of a sudden. This was a place built specifically for people like her, to give them a chance to live and to protect them. She wouldn't be a stranger here, and she wouldn't need to run. It was like a dream, but somehow, it was real and right in front of her.

They went down the road some more, passing by other faunus who shot them curious looks through the windows of the van. Adam was agitated now, looking around constantly, as if expecting a trap to be sprung any moment now. Blake took his hand, trying to calm him down, but it only worked slightly.

Joshua parked the van beside the only two-story building in the complex, then hopped off. Adam didn't waste any time getting out too, and Blake followed eagerly.

"Well, then, we're here," Joshua said. "We've been traveling too long. You probably want to get to bed and rest."

"What?!" Adam stepped towards him, his fists shaking at his sides. "That's it? You take us all the way to the middle of nowhere, tell us about this righteous cause of yours, then expect us to go sleep or something? What is _wrong_ with you?"

"Adam. I don't expect anything from you. You are free to do whatever you wish now, as long as it doesn't harm any of our other residents," Joshua said. "You could walk right out of here if you wanted, and though I'd certainly try to change your mind, I would have to let you go."

Adam's shoulders dropped, and he stepped back to stand beside Blake, but his eyes stayed fixed on Joshua.

The door of the two-story building opened, and out came a young woman. Her face was angular in such a way that it resembled a tigress', and her irises were an opaque yellow. She turned and walked towards Joshua.

"Finally, you're back. You were supposed to arrive yesterday," she talked fast, a hint of anger evident in her voice. "I have a lot to report, things you have to catch up on and some decisions you have to make. And this time, I'm not going to let you-"

"Calm down, child," Joshua raised a hand. "Can't you see we have visitors?"

The woman blinked, then looked at the kids. Her disposition seemed to brighten, her lips curving into a slight smile. "Ah. I didn't know you would be getting new recruits. If I did, you wouldn't be getting such an earful, old man."

"Now, now, you know how I don't approve of that word. They're not recruits. They were in need of help, and I was there to give it," Joshua said. "Adam and his friends will be staying with us for a few days, and then we'll see what happens next."

"Yes, of course," she nodded. "Go rest, uncle. I can see you're tired. I'll arrange things with the kids."

Joshua smiled gratefully, then entered the building. The woman waited a few moments, staring at the closed door, then turned to Blake, Adam, and the others.

"Hey. My name is Sienna Khan," she said. "I'm assuming you're Adam. You the leader?"

"Kind of," Adam crossed his arms anxiously. "It's a group effort."

"He's the leader." Blake said matter-of-factly.

"Well, being leader doesn't mean other people don't have a say on how things go, much to my uncle's frustration," Sienna smiled. "Anyway. Let's find somewhere for you to lay down and rest. Later I can show you around the place, introduce you to some other members of the community… Or maybe you'd like to eat first? Your choice."

Adam blanched, as if her words and their meanings simply didn't connect inside his head. He turned slowly to look at Blake, but she was just as lost as him.

"I don't know," she muttered. "We… haven't really had to choose lately."

"Yeah. We just did what we could at the time," Adam added. "We, uh, survived, you know?"

"Trust me, I know. But that's over, kids. Your life's about to get much, much better," Sienna said. "Welcome to the White Fang."

* * *

Sienna ended up giving them a brief tour of the base. The building they had parked next to was the center of operations there, where Joshua gathered with other important members of the White Fang to make plans and deliver orders.

The food court was next. Normally, everyone ate at fixed hours of the day, but Sienna talked with the cooks and got them to make something for the kids. After years of surviving on grocery store snacks and leftovers from restaurants, Blake was overjoyed to have something substantial to eat, as was everyone else.

There was a recreational area people could go to spend time together when they didn't have any tasks to accomplish. And on the outskirts of the complex, out in the open, was an area designated to what Sienna called 'training', though for what, Blake didn't entirely understand.

They stopped there for a while, watching as a pair of faunus took aim at faraway targets with rifles. They didn't land all their shots, but the frequency with which they did was still impressive.

"What's this?" Blake asked. "I thought Joshua said the White Fang didn't fight?"

"We do, only not deliberately," Sienna said. "All of you should understand. No matter how noble you are, you can't expect to go out there in the world, as a faunus, and not be the target of unjust violence. That's why we train people to defend themselves."

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense." Blake nodded, then flinched as another bullet was fired.

"I'd like us to get training too," Adam said. "We could, right?"

"Sure. But you're gonna have to wait a while. Joshua wouldn't like it if you guys got into it so soon after joining us," Sienna said. "It took me months to convince him we needed this. I don't wanna risk upsetting him. Besides, you're kids. You should be having fun."

"Did _you_ have fun when you were a kid?" Adam asked.

Sienna looked down at him and smiled. "I don't think I need to answer that."

After that, Sienna showed them the living arrangements in the complex. Everyone slept in the tents and houses Blake had seen before, some by themselves, others having companions and loved ones with them. Adam decided that, at least until they knew the place better, the group should stay together, so Sienna found a vacant tent for them and arranged extra mattresses to be brought there.

"Anything you need, you'll probably find it here, and if you don't, just ask around. People here know better than to be stingy with their stuff," Sienna said. "Now, if you have any questions, if there's anything you need to clear up, just find me and I'll make time for you. Until then… rest well."

She turned and left, leaving the kids alone inside the tent. Blake looked around, amazed by their new, albeit temporary, home. It might be just a tent, but to her it felt as spacious as an actual house, and they had mattresses to sleep on, a stove on the corner where they could cook something, a table to eat at and talk with each other…

"This is too good." She said quietly.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Adam stepped past her, putting his hands on his hips. "But… I guess it can't hurt to stay a while. We just have to stay vigilant."

"And if everything turns out okay?" Ilia asked. "What happens then?"

Adam stayed silent for a few moments, pondering the question. "I guess, if for once nothing goes wrong and everyone is happy…" he shrugged. "We stay."

* * *

The following days went almost like a dream. Wake up. Eat. Spend time in the tent. Eat again. Sleep. Rinse and repeat.

Blake kept waiting for something to happen, like someone showing up and demanding that they pay for their stay in some way, or for humans to come storming the place in the middle of the night, but none of that happened.

There was little to do in the tent but talk to each other. Luckily, Blake found a couple of books hidden under a bed. They weren't terribly interesting, but she was too happy to have them to really care about that. Reading had been her favorite pastime before she had been kidnapped, and since then she hadn't laid a finger on a book.

Joshua came to their tent one day to check on how they were doing and saw her reading. The next day, he arrived with a box full of books. Blake almost cried from happiness, the only thing stopping her from doing so being the cautious fear tucked away in the back of her mind. At that moment, she wanted to let that go and finally drop her guard, but she remained resolute and simply thanked Joshua.

After two weeks passed peacefully, Ilia decided to move to a tent next to theirs along with the other kids. Adam didn't like that very much, and though he made that very clear, he didn't stop them. Blake stayed with him. It only felt right.

"Blake, what if this place isn't what we think?" Adam asked one day, interrupting her reading. "What if one day we realize we've been tricked and we get hurt? What would you do then?"

"I don't know," Blake said. "Can't we just believe? One time?"

"One time is all it takes." Adam pointed out gravely.

"Yeah, but… I don't want to always be afraid," Blake smiled tentatively. "Like Joshua said. We have to live, or else nothing really means anything."

Adam sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I wish I knew how to do that, then."

The day after that conversation, they started to stay out of the tent after lunch. There were a lot of people in the complex, but they managed to get a decent grasp on who everyone was. Most were just like them, faunus who had for some reason or another found themselves alone and in danger at some point of their lives, and the White Fang had been there to save them. They had yet to meet someone who wasn't content with how their lives were now.

"All of this…" Adam said as they returned to their tent. "I can't believe where we are."

"You can't, or you don't want to?" Blake asked. "I think we can live here, Adam."

"Maybe. We have to stay smart."

Nearly a month had passed since their arrival when Joshua approached them again, this time during dinner in the food court. Adam stood up, suddenly alert, while Blake remained seated, eating her food silently while still paying close attention.

"Easy, Adam," Joshua said, sitting down beside her. "It's been some time. How are you liking the White Fang so far?"

Blake stopped eating momentarily to reply. "It's very nice."

"Have you made up your minds about whether you're staying?" Joshua asked.

"No." Adam answered immediately.

"That's what I expected," Joshua chuckled. "It's no problem. I'm here to help you with that. You two have seen everything we have to offer here, but that's only a small part of being one of us," he paused, raising a finger meaningfully. "I think the other part is the one you're really interested in."

Blake looked at Adam, raising her eyebrows. He met her stare and tilted his head slightly.

"Sleep early tonight. I'll come by your tent in the morning, and then we'll be off," Joshua said, standing up. He beat his hands against his belly, sniffing the air exaggeratedly. "Now, where is that delicious smell coming from…?"

* * *

As promised, Joshua was outside their tent to greet them early in the morning. He took them to the same van he had used before and told them to get in the front, then drove out of the complex. After leaving the mountain path, they met up with two identical vans on the road, filled with White Fang members, and from there they went south.

"So, where are we going?" Adam asked suspiciously.

"Shade. Second biggest metropolis in Vacuo," Joshua said. "Mr. Jacques Schnee is going to be holding a press conference there tomorrow."

"Who's Jacques Schnee, and why should we care about him holding a… press conference?" Adam insisted.

"Because he's the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, infamous for their shady business practices involving faunus employees, ranging from strenuous work conditions; salaries below minimum wage, if there is a salary at all; emotional blackmail and abuse of power by human managers…" Joshua explained. "Basically, he's your present-day slave master, and we're going to give him hell for it."

"That… actually sounds great," Adam said. "How are we going to do that?"

"Blake, look in the back."

Blake turned around and saw the entire back of the van was filled with signs. She grabbed one of them and pulled it up front, showing it to Adam.

" _Faunus are not your tools, you tool_ ," Adam read. He blinked a few times, as if to make sure he hadn't made a mistake, then shook his head. "Okay. Ignoring the fact that this is the worst protest sign I've ever seen in my life… Do you really think this is going to do anything?"

"Well, _that_ one really shouldn't be here… Someone must have been running out of ideas when they wrote that," Joshua said. "But, more to the point, I know this is what works. You might think this is too little, that a bunch of faunus screaming and waving signs is just a minor inconvenience… But that's what causes them real damage."

"Really? How?" Blake asked curiously. "They don't actually care, right?"

"Oh, not at all. People like Jacques Schnee will never change their minds about us," Joshua answered. "But while they might not care, the rest of the world certainly does. The people of Vale, of Mistral, even Atlas, they care. And as an international business corporation, the SDC cares that _they_ care."

"It's all about money, then." Adam concluded.

"Bingo!" Joshua snapped his fingers. "A sad bingo, but a bingo nonetheless."

Blake looked at the sign again. It angered her that so many faunus suffered because of a thing as petty as money, but in a way, it also made her a little more hopeful for the future. Knowing the reason why she was persecuted meant she could make a clear effort to end it.

She tossed the sign back, then took another one to examine. Together with Adam, she went through them all, selecting the best ones for their upcoming job.

* * *

They stopped by the side of road to sleep overnight, then resumed their journey at the break of dawn after a quick breakfast.

After a few hours, the road was much busier, and Blake began to notice a change in the scenery, from endless desert, to a landscape of factories and small towns. She leaned over Adam to open the window, and fresh air poured inside the van, carrying a peculiar smell.

"What's that?" Blake asked, breathing in deep. "I think I remember the smell, but not where it comes from…"

"That's salt, among other things. Have you ever been near the ocean?" Joshua asked.

"Oh, yeah! That's the smell!" Blake exclaimed. "I think I saw the shore one time with my parents."

"I dived in one time to escape some cops," Adam shared with a little smile on his face. "Fun times."

"Maybe we can refresh both your memories… hopefully not as precisely in Adam's case," Joshua said. "Shade's an important port. I suspect that might be relevant to Schnee's announcement today."

Midday passed, and finally they entered Shade. Blake had never been there, but it was unmistakable, a city so sprawling and so full of people that it just had to be their destination.

Their vans attracted a lot of attention from the pedestrians on the sidewalks. Some people cheered when they saw them, a lot of them faunus, though there were a few humans too. But most people were not so receptive, yelling at them to get out of their city and a few going so far as to throw projectiles at them. Luckily no damage was incurred from that.

Joshua navigated the streets of Shade with a keen familiarity, never making a wrong turn. Perhaps he had lived there someday, or he had visited the city so many times he had grown used to it. It didn't take long for him to enter a busy street and park the van on the sidewalk, the others following suit a few seconds later.

"Here we are," he said, opening his window. "Well, would you look at that…"

He pointed to the other side of the street, at a building so tall Blake could barely make out the very top of it. It made the surrounding buildings, which she had found big before, look like toy models in comparison.

There was a crowd in front of it, a mixture of businesspeople, reporters, and regular citizens, but the front doors seemed to be inactive for now. Above them, a huge cloth concealed something, though Blake could vaguely make out the shape of letters.

"The last time I came here, construction had barely started. That was two years ago," Joshua said. "I'll give this to the SDC, they do know how to get stuff done quick and well. I wonder how many faunus got injured building this thing."

"Why would they even need a building this tall?" Blake asked, wincing as the sunlight reflected off the building's glass windows onto her eyes.

"Beats me. I bet even they wouldn't be able to answer honestly," Joshua said. "More fuel for us, I guess, so at least there's that to be grateful for."

"If they care so much about money, why don't we blow up their new building or something?" Adam suggested. "Now _that_ would really hurt their pockets."

"First off, that would result in a lot of innocent people getting hurt, perhaps even killed. Second, resorting to violence gives them a concrete reason to hunt us down, for good this time," Joshua said. "Third, wouldn't it be great if, once conditions are better for faunus, some of us could get inside that building and work there? It would only be fair, considering who built it."

"I wouldn't want to work for a Schnee." Adam noted.

"But you'd like to have a Schnee work for you." Blake said.

"Exactly," Joshua winked at her. "Listen to the girl, Adam. She catches on quick."

Adam grunted, leaning towards his window. Blake sank a little on her seat, getting more comfortable while they waited for the press conference to start. Camera flashes started to rain down on the vans, the nearby reporters taking notice of their presence and approaching, but Joshua pulled up his window, ignoring their pleas for an interview. After a while, they gave up and returned to their former positions.

Blake was about to fall asleep when a car parked in front of them and a blonde woman stepped out of it and walked to the van, knocking on Joshua's window. He lowered them and gave her a smile.

"Commander Goodwitch," he greeted warmly. "So you'll be overseeing things today?"

"I will. The Director wishes he had the time, but alas, he is dealing with other matters this week," she said. "I don't have to remind you about the agreements."

"No violence. No vandalism. Everything else is fair game," Joshua smiled. "Let me tell you, we've got the best protest signs today."

"I bet you do," she raised an eyebrow at him. "Good luck, Mr. Khan. We'll be watching over you." She returned to her car and got in, then drove a little further down the street.

Blake leaned towards Joshua. "Who's that?"

"Commander Glynda Goodwitch, from Beacon," Joshua said. "We've got a deal with them. They make sure we are safe during our rallies, and we don't make messes they'll need to deal with later."

"What happens if they don't like something we do?" Adam asked.

"Nothing major, I assume," Joshua shrugged. "It hasn't happened in two decades."

"Sounds to me like they've got you on a leash."

"Trust me, Adam, Beacon wants nothing more than to help us-" Joshua stopped talking, opening his door suddenly. "It's starting. Quick, get ready."

Blake and Adam jumped out. Joshua went around to the back and opened it, letting them and the faunus of the other vans grab the signs. Once everybody had one, they crossed the street and infiltrated the crowd.

Blake's eyes widened as she lost sight of Joshua. Everyone around her was too tall, making it impossible for her to tell where she was. Thinking fast, she ran to catch up with Adam and jumped, wrapping an arm and her legs around his torso.

"Hey! Warn me first, would you?!" Adam yelped, nearly falling down. "You okay up there? Want me to tiptoe too?!"

"I'm fine!" Blake shouted. "Keep moving!"

Adam walked forward, Blake holding tight to him. She looked at the building and saw a group exiting it, some unexciting business-type people, but also what resembled a family of white-haired humans. The one in front was a man of middling age, with a mustache and complexion that suggested he was not happy very often. Blake assumed that was Jacques Schnee.

Behind him followed three children: a girl coming into adulthood, standing solemnly with a hand on her hip; another girl of Blake's age or close to it; and a younger boy, looking annoyedly at the crowd.

Blake inspected the family attentively, her eyes eventually locking with the middle child's. All of a sudden, it felt like the crowd had disappeared, and they were now standing right in front of each other. The Schnee's face didn't as much as twitch, but in her eyes, Blake found disdain deeper than she had ever encountered before. For the first time in her life, she was at the end of a hateful stare… and it didn't feel completely unjustified.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Mr. Schnee spoke into a microphone, startling Blake from her stupor. "My friends from the press, my colleagues from this marvelous land of Vacuo…" His eyes scanned the crowd quickly, taking in the unwelcome sight of the White Fang mingling amongst it. "…and others. Thank you very much for being here today."

"The announcement I am about to make should come as no surprise. The relationship between the SDC and Vacuo and its people has been a great boon for both sides. Over the last decade, my company has seen a rise in production and profit in the region, and in turn, we have helped the development of your country," he took a step back. "Today, we take the next step in that relationship."

Behind him, workers pulled the cloth above the door, revealing a sign spelling SCHNEE. He bowed briefly, smiling to the cameras, but soon his face twisted into a grimace when a faunus shouted from amidst the crowd.

"This building was built with _our_ blood! This land does not belong to you!"

Jacques scratched his moustache, then cleared his throat and went back to the microphone. "Of course, we must give credit where its due. Without the hard work of our many employees, this undertaking never would have been possible," he smiled again. "Rest assured, everyone who worked here received their fair payments and benefits."

" _Liar!_ "

"But this building is only a part of our plans regarding Vacuo. It's a stepping stone for things to come," Jacques continued, ignoring the outcry from the crowd. "The railway system of Vacuo has been left untouched for decades since its creation. It's past time for it to be renovated… expanded. I am happy to announce that the SDC will be working exactly on that issue for the next years, and _everyone_ will benefit from it."

There was a burst of applaud from the businesspeople in the crowd, but that was quickly deafened by a massive uproar from the White Fang. Blake looked around in confusion for a moment, then raised her sign and joined her voice to theirs.

" _Devil!_ "

" _Go back where you came from_!"

" _Expand a stick up your-_ "

"Development will begin shortly on-" Jacque stopped, lowering his head. His face was slowly turning red. "Shortly after- _damn you all to Hell_!"

He slapped the microphone, knocking it off its stand and to the ground. A shrill noise echoed in the street. Breathing raggedly, Jacques turned and stormed back inside the building, followed by his family and associates.

The reporters turned to the White Fang, but the faunus gave them no mind, instead advancing until they were massing right in front of the building.

" _Free the faunus! Free the faunus! Free the faunus!_ "

* * *

Blake sat down on the beach, facing the ocean as it advanced and receded in waves. It was still hard to breathe properly, the euphoria and adrenaline from the rally not having faded quite yet.

It was difficult to put how she felt to words. She was exhausted and not entirely happy, but there was a feeling of accomplishment inside of her. As far as she knew, all she had done was make a middle-aged man have an attack of fury and lose a few thousand liens from his multi-billionaire pocket. Yet at the same time, it was so much more than that.

"I still don't get why the railway thing is such a big deal." Adam said, standing with his arms crossed.

"It's a complicated issue. The gist of it is that he's going to use the railway for his own gains, and as always, faunus are going to get hurt because of it," Joshua explained, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Hopefully we did enough to slow him down. We can then focus on disrupting his plan completely later."

"By shouting at him some more?" Adam raised an eyebrow. "Because my throat is sore enough already."

"It'll heal in time," Joshua shrugged. "So. Now that you've seen everything there is to the White Fang… and know that you don't have to participate in our rallies if you don't want to… how do you two feel about joining us permanently?"

Blake looked back at Adam, their eyes locking instantly. He was hesitant. She wasn't at all.

Adam sighed. "We're in."


	5. Stand, stand, stand

The gun felt strange in her hands. A piece of metal, shaped into a lethal weapon. Her finger twitched anxiously on the trigger, the barrel wavering up and down, impossible to aim.

Focus.

Blake breathed in, and slowly, her hold on the gun steadied. She narrowed her eyes, the world around her disappearing until all that remained was herself and the bottle on the fence, fifteen meters between them. She breathed out and pulled the trigger.

 _BAM._ Blake shut her eyes and almost dropped the gun, the noise of the gunshot louder than she had expected, even with her ears being protected. She took a moment to recompose, then slowly opened her eyes to see the bottle shattered on the ground.

"Wow, you really are a natural," Sienna said, laying one hand on her shoulder while removing her headgear with the other. "How did it feel?"

"Weird?" Blake replied hesitantly. "Is it always that loud?"

"You get used to it. But I suppose it might be harder on you on account of your cat heritage." Sienna said. She turned around to face Joshua. "Well, old man, I am sorry to say that your little protégé might just be one our best shooters."

Joshua looked up at the sky and shook his head. "How tragic," he looked at Blake, pointing a finger at the gun. "Remember the rules. You're only supposed to use that for self-defense. Step out of line and I'll take it from you. Understood?"

"Understood," Blake nodded. "I'm more of a runner anyway."

"Alright. I have some things to take care of," Joshua said. "Have fun with your toys, little ones."

Sienna rolled her eyes and scoffed as he walked away. Blake smiled lightly. It was always fun to witness Sienna's reactions when her uncle called her little.

"God. Finally, he's gone," Sienna muttered exasperatedly. "Took him almost a year for him to authorize this, and then he had to watch. Like something would go wrong…"

"He's just a little overprotective." Blake said.

"Well, of course he is. You're his favorite, after all." Sienna pointed out.

"I am?" Blake frowned. "Sorry."

"Oh, don't take that the wrong way. I'm glad he's finally off my back," Sienna said. "Trust me, one day you're gonna wish he finds someone else to dote on, kid."

Blake crossed her arms. She didn't think Joshua doted on her or anything. But, then again, she didn't exactly know how he was before they met. Sienna clearly had a better understanding of him, being his only remaining relative.

"Anyway. Let's get on with the training," Sienna said, walking towards the fence. "You made a good shot, but what really matters is if you're consistent. I'm gonna set up three bottles, and you've gotta shoot them all consecutively."

"Sounds tough." Blake said.

"Yeah, you're probably gonna miss _a lot_. But that's the whole point of training, and we have all the time in the world," Sienna finished setting up, then walked a safe distance away from the fence. "You ready?"

Blake took a deep breath, then raised her gun. "Ready."

* * *

Later that afternoon, Blake returned to her tent and plopped down on her bed. She would never have guessed shooting would be so exhausting, but it was. On top of that, her ears were ringing and there was an unsettling itching sensation coursing on her skin.

Was she really supposed to get used to this? Sienna would be disappointed if she backed out. She was really bent on teaching her how to defend herself, and she had argued day and night with her uncle to be able to do it. But what else was Blake supposed to do if this whole training scenario left her in such a bad condition?

Blake closed her eyes. She would go along with it for another session or two. If it didn't get better, then she would back out. At least then she could say she made an honest attempt at it. Sienna would understand.

She rested for a few minutes, at the edge of falling asleep. Just as the last of her strength was about to drain, she heard someone enter the tent. Blake opened her eyes and sat up, seeing Adam walking to his bed opposite to hers and put down a bag.

"Hey." He greeted in his usual gruff way. He had gone through a bit of a growth spurt over the last months, and his voice had changed accordingly. It fitted his demeanor almost too well, Blake found.

"Hey," she turned to sat on the edge of her bed. "Where were you?"

"Hmm? I was just over at the food court, helping to move some stuff around. They scored big this time," Adam said. "Did it go well with Sienna?"

"It was alright," Blake shrugged. "Apparently, I'm a really good shot."

"Really?" Adam raised an eyebrow at her. "Huh. Let's add that to your long list of talents, then."

Blake smiled slightly. Adam was proud of her. Maybe learning to shoot wasn't that bad after all.

"Hey, we're gonna do another rally this weekend, against the Schnee Railway and all that," she said. "You should come."

Adam turned back to his bag, shuffling through it distractedly. "I'm not feeling up to it."

"That's the same thing you said last time," Blake frowned. "That's the fourth rally you're gonna miss, Adam. Why won't you come with us?"

"Blake…" Adam looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? Protesting just isn't my thing. I don't feel like I ever accomplish anything doing it. I would rather stay and help Sienna run things around here while you and Joshua are gone."

"Oh, yeah?" Blake crossed her arms. "And what if _I_ need your help?"

Adam turned around to face her, his lips slowly curving into a smile. Blake looked away, blushing furiously.

"Blake, is there something you wanna say to me?" Adam asked teasingly.

"I am _not_ jealous!" Blake exclaimed immediately.

"I never said you were, but thanks for telling me." Adam said.

"No! You're getting it all wrong!" She threw her arms up. "Forget it!"

She lied down on her bed and turned her back to him, grinding her teeth in embarrassment. This is why she preferred to stay quiet. Her mouth had a habit of running itself if she didn't pay close attention to what she was saying.

If only her superpower was to go back in time or erase people's memories…

* * *

"Oh, you are _so_ adorable."

Blake clenched her fists and bent her head low, feeling her cheeks burn as she listened to Joshua's hearty laughter, recoiling slightly when he almost pressed the van's honk by accident. To say she regretted opening up to him would be an understatement.

"It's not funny." She muttered.

"Actually, it kinda is, if you take a step back to look at it," Joshua got out one last chuckle, then breathed deeply and focused back on driving. "You shouldn't worry about it, Blake. Adam has probably forgotten by now."

"No. It's _embarrassing_ ," Blake insisted. "How am I supposed to look him in the face now? He probably thinks I _like_ him or something…"

"And if that's the case, he's absolutely mistaken!" Joshua shook his head, almost bursting into laughter again.

"Yes, he _is_ ," Blake groaned. "I thought you would take this seriously, not make fun of me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," Joshua said, assuming the sagely tone of voice he reserved for when he wanted to impart a valuable lesson on her. "Blake, it's totally normal for you to feel that way about Adam. You two are very close, and he's not that much older than you, so of course some feelings would develop. There is no shame in that."

"I don't care if it's normal or natural or whatever," Blake said. "I don't want to like him. Girls become silly when they like boys. They start doing stupid stuff that they wouldn't do otherwise," her eyes narrowed. "I am not going to become that."

"Alright," Joshua nodded, vaguely impressed by her little speech. "Where did you learn that from, though?"

"Books."

"Ah. Of course."

Blake looked out the window. She didn't want to think about Adam anymore, so instead, she focused on something more current, such as where she was now.

This trip was taking a couple more days than usual, as they were going west, deeper into the Vacuo desert. Even inside the van with its air conditioner turned on, Blake could feel the heat emanating throughout the dry wasteland. She wondered how anyone could stand to live there.

As well as this being her first time in this part of Vacuo, this would also be the first time she actually set her eyes on the railway she had been hearing so much about and protesting for months. It had already been constructed far before she was even born, but remained abandoned for decades, only used by the more discrete of faunus to move throughout the country and avoid undesired human contact. Now that it was Schnee property, that would change, but most certainly not for the majority of people's benefit.

"Joshua?" She called quietly, turning to look at him. "Do you think we're actually making a difference?"

"Absolutely I do," Joshua replied calmly. "Don't you?"

"I also think so," Blake said. "It's just… It's hard to see how. I mean, the SDC is still going to use the railway. That hasn't changed. And there's still a lot of faunus being mistreated in their mines. It seems like the more we protest, the worse things get."

"That's expected. When we push against people like the Schnees, they push back even harder. It's all about endurance, standing your ground until the opposition gives up theirs," Joshua said. "The SDC will meet our demands. With how much bad publicity they're getting, Jacques will be forced to change his company drastically, or he will be pushed out by his own people."

"I believe that. I only wish it wouldn't take so long," Blake looked away. "Sienna's been saying some stuff about how we could get things done faster."

"She has, and I would support that, if it weren't for her less than stellar methods," Joshua sighed. "You can build a house with whatever you find around you and get it done fast, but come the first storm and that's all gone. Now you have to build a second house _and_ deal with the crumbled remains of the old one. If only you had used bricks in the first place…"

"And in this analogy, bricks are our rallies and boycotts and all that stuff," Blake noted. "What's Sienna's house made of, then?"

Joshua stared at the road solemnly. "You don't have to know that."

Blake nodded, examining his trouble face. He should know better. That was all the answer she needed.

* * *

The rally went without a hitch, though it was a smaller one, with it being so far from Vacuo's biggest cities and no reporters being there to witness it. Still, word would reach the ears of the bigshots at the SDC, and that's what really mattered in the end. There would be other opportunities to be more public.

The drive back was faster and just as uneventful. Shortly after dawn on the fourth day, they arrived at the mountain range that hid their base and went in. Blake tapped her fingers on the passenger's door, eager to stretch her legs and see what Adam and Ilia were up to during her absence.

"I don't like this." Joshua said suddenly, his voice low. He slowed down the van as they entered the complex.

"What?" Blake asked, sitting up straight. Whatever got Joshua to talk that way had to be serious.

"Look around. Listen," he said. "Something's happened."

Blake looked through the window of the van. Usually, there were always people out and about in the complex, and the air was filled with the sound of conversations, work and the occasional gunshot from the training range. But now there were barely any people to be seen, and they all had despondent looks on their faces, not uttering a sound.

Blake gulped, a bad feeling sinking down her stomach. Indeed, something had happened. Instinctively, she found herself thinking about her friends, where they might be and if they were hurt. It was like being taken back in time. After months of living a relatively peaceful life, she was being thrust back into fear and despair.

"Don't worry, Blake," Joshua took her hand and squeezed. "Whatever's happening, we'll figure it out."

They pulled up to the main building. In front of it was a small crowd. Sienna was talking to them, gesturing hugely, as if making a speech. Among the crowd, Blake spotted Adam.

Joshua stopped the van and got out. Sienna stopped speaking and turned to look at him. For a second, her face twisted into a grimace, but she quickly recomposed herself, though it appeared to take a great effort.

"Uncle," she said bitterly. "I'm glad you're back from your little excursion."

"What's going on here?" Joshua asked, giving the crowd a glance.

"You haven't heard. I thought that would be the case," Sienna shook her head. "There's been a… tragedy. Shade. Seventeen faunus killed at a shelter," she closed her eyes. Her fists were trembling near her hips. "They're letting the humans walk. Just like that! No consequences!"

Blake stopped in her tracks. She had witnessed more than her fair share of tragedies in her life, friends being captured, beaten, killed… But seventeen. Seventeen, all at once.

Just like that.

Joshua stepped back, covering his mouth with a hand. He looked at the crowd, then at Sienna. "How?" He asked. "Why?"

"In cold blood," Sienna said forcefully. "And what do you mean _why_?! You already know the damn reason!" She pointed at his chest. "This is why we can't reason with them! If we weren't so soft, they wouldn't dare pull shit like this! I am _done_ cooperating!"

A wave of shouts came from the crowd, all of them in agreement. Blake saw Adam take a step forward, nodding fervently.

"Wait. I understand your anger. Trust me, my blood is boiling right now," Joshua said, raising a hand. "But let's take a step back and look at this. We can't make a decision before knowing the full picture."

"We can. You just don't want us to." Sienna stated firmly.

"Alright. Let's say we go out, guns blazing, to take revenge on the bastards that killed those poor seventeen," Joshua said. "Who are they? Who are their friends? Were they just working for a bigger force behind the curtains? What happens after?" He paused. "We could fall into a hole too deep for us to ever climb out of."

Sienna pursed her lips. The crowd fell silent.

"We need to learn everything about this," Joshua said. " _Then_ we'll take action."

He turned and stormed inside the building. Slowly, the crowd dispersed. Sienna remained where she stood, unmoving, not a word leaving her mouth.

* * *

Seventeen.

Blake rolled over in her bed to look at Adam. He was sitting on a chair, looking at nowhere in particular, with a harsh expression on his face. He was having as much luck sleeping as she was.

"This can't just happen." Blake muttered.

Adam looked at her, and she chilled a bit. He hadn't stared at her like this for years. Like she was a child. Like she hadn't gone through everything he had.

"I'm surprised it took so long to happen." He said.

"Adam!" Blake exclaimed, sitting up. "You don't mean that!"

"I do. It was obvious this was going to happen eventually," Adam scoffed. "You yell at the Schnees day and night, night and day, and what did you expect them to do? Send us a gift basket with an apology and a magic spell to fix everything?" He shook his head. "You pushed them, and they pushed back."

Blake opened her mouth, wanting to contest that, but she couldn't. Those were the same words Joshua had used. Except now that they came from Adam, there was a whole new meaning to them. More sinister, more real.

"You…" Blake gulped. "You don't know the Schnees were involved."

"What does it matter? Humans are humans. They see faunus speaking up about anything, they get angry," Adam said. "Sienna's right. This happened because they don't take us seriously. That's over."

"If we fight them, things are just gonna get worse. We have to-"

"Stop repeating everything Joshua says," Adam interrupted. "You're smarter than that, Blake. You know if things continue as they are, _this_ is going to keep happening, and next time it might be _us_ who end up dead."

Blake crossed her arms. She wished what he said didn't make sense, but it did. It made a lot of sense. But even if he was right, that didn't mean she had to agree with him.

After a brief moment of silence, Adam stepped closer to her, extending a hand with a palm turned towards her. It brought back memories of a glass wall, keeping them separate but all the more together. Her life hadn't been simple then, but Blake was beginning to think it had been definitely simpler than it was now.

"Blake. The time for waving signs is over," Adam said. "We need to fight."

She looked away. "No."

"Please," he insisted. "We could make a real difference."

Suddenly, something clicked inside Blake's head. She looked up at Adam, her eyes narrowing, and he backed away slightly. Anger was not an emotion she wore often, not when it came to him.

"You don't mean _we_ as in the White Fang. Or the faunus as a whole. You mean me and you," she stood up. "Did you tell someone about what we are?"

"No. I told Sienna about my Semblance, but not yours," Adam said defensively. "That's for you to tell. If you want to."

"I _don't_ want to. I never will!" Blake exclaimed. "What now, Adam? Are you going to use your powers to help Sienna do… whatever she's planning on doing? Because I think that's the kind of stuff the scientists had in mind for us when they turned us into freaks!"

"Freaks? What the hell, Blake?" Adam looked at her as if she had just gone mad. "I thought you got over this years ago!"

"You haven't been paying very much attention, then."

She turned and walked towards the tent's entrance, pausing briefly to look back at him. He met her stare, then gestured outside. Blake shook her head and left.

* * *

Joshua was nowhere to be seen for the next week. He had left the same day he had arrived from the rally, presumably to gather information on the Shade tragedy. One day, Sienna received word that he would be speaking on live television, a first for the White Fang.

At the night of the transmission, everyone gathered in the food court, where some had managed to hook up a television and signal for it. Everyone was dead silent while they waited through the usual news for Joshua's moment.

Blake was in the back. From there, she could see Sienna at the very front, and at her side, Adam. She wasn't surprised, but the sight still upset her.

Finally, the news anchor ended her last report and turned to introduce Joshua. He was dressed finely, as if to make an impression. Blake found it a little weird, but she could see what his purpose was. She only wished everyone else would think the same way.

" _Now, a special guest tonight, Mr. Joshua Khan, from the White Fang_ ," the anchor started. " _It is a pleasure to have you, Mr. Khan._ "

Joshua bowed his head. " _Thank you, Miss Lavender. I could not be more grateful for your invitation._ "

" _Well, we at VNN always strive to present our viewers only the best sources, and I believe you have a lot to say that is very relevant to recent… happenings, Mr. Khan,_ " Lavender paused to shuffle her papers, then smiled charmingly to him. " _But first, why don't you familiarize us with what your organization is? The White Fang has grown rapidly over the years, and it has become a familiar name to many, but I'm afraid to say the general population has a rather lacking knowledge of what your goals are._ "

" _I am happy to clear that up. The White Fang is an organization of like-minded faunus, working towards fixing relations between faunus and humans. We operate in Vacuo, but perhaps in the future we might be able to expand beyond its borders._ "

" _And how do you go about working towards that goal?_ "

" _Oh, I believe you've already grown tired of reporting on that, Miss Lavender,_ " Joshua chuckled. " _But on a more serious note… Everything we do in the name of the White Fang, we seek to accomplish it in the most harmonious of ways. Violence and destruction are not inherent to rebellion. That distinction is very important to us._ "

" _Yes, very admirable,_ " Lavender looked past the camera and gave a slight nod, then went back to Joshua. " _I can only imagine how hard it must be to hold that stance, especially when in the face of tragedies like the one at Shade, where_ seventeen _faunus where killed by human hands. Is there anything you'd like to say about that?_ "

There was a shift in the food court, everyone becoming more alert as they watched Joshua fix his shirt, his eyes wandering aimlessly. He cleared his throat and faced the camera.

" _I am, of course, terribly saddened by the loss of so many faunus lives. Those types of tragedies are always difficult to process, and even more so to heal,_ " he said. " _But as devastated as I am about it, it has brought me an optimism of sorts. Twenty years ago, something like that would pass by unnoticed. Today… it's been a week since the incident, and everyone everywhere is still talking about it. That brings me hope of a brighter future._ "

" _Do you expect a significant cultural shift in Vacuo because of it?_ "

" _It's difficult to tell. I would say yes, but not so soon. There's a lot that needs to change, and just this wound is not enough to enable that,_ " Joshua paused. " _I think it's important to note that, even if the faunus of Vacuo suddenly found themselves in a position of power over the human population…. That is not what we at the White Fang want. We don't seek to change roles with them._ "

" _So, equality,_ " Lavender posed. " _Is that the last stop?_ "

" _Yes. We all live in the same planet, do we not?_ " Joshua said. " _And in that spirit, I want to express my condolences not only to the families of the seventeen faunus killed in the Shade incident, but also of the five humans that suffered the same fate. I find it woeful how they have been so frequently ignored in the conversations of this last week._ "

" _Yes. We at VNN express the same feeling,_ " Lavender lowered her head briefly, then gestured at Joshua. " _Mr. Joshua Khan, dear spectators. It was a pleasure having you tonight._ "

" _Thank you again for the invitation, Miss Lavender._ " Joshua got up and walked offscreen.

There was a moment of silence in the food court as the news transitioned into another report. Then someone turned off the TV, and suddenly, everyone was talking.

Blake looked around silently. She thought Joshua had done a fine job, but it appeared only a few others agreed with her. A lot of people were gathered around Sienna now, listening to her speak.

Unsettled, Blake turned around and walked away.

* * *

Blake looked up at the ceiling of Ilia's tent, thinking about recent events. Three days had passed since Joshua's television appearance, but the mood around the complex was still heavy. He was supposed to be back by nightfall, and Blake could only imagine what would happen then.

She and Adam hadn't talked since their last argument. Since then, Blake had been sleeping over at Ilia's tent. It felt good to spend time with her again. She wished she had gotten to it much earlier, instead of hanging around Adam so often.

When it came to the usual problems the White Fang had to deal with, Ilia was quite different. She wasn't oblivious or uncaring about them, not at all, but she separated them very efficiently from her day-to-day life. It was a far cry from what Blake had been dealing with from Adam, Sienna, and even Joshua.

"Hey, Ilia," Blake said, rolling over in her friend's bed to look at her. "Who do you think is right? Joshua or Sienna?"

Ilia was ironing her clothes, but she paused briefly to look at her. "About what?"

"…Everything, I guess. Humans and what we need to do regarding them."

"I don't know. It's all very complicated," Ilia started ironing again, frowning slightly. "I like Joshua and his message. I don't want anyone to get hurt in any way. But it's kinda of naïve to think that's possible. So, as much as I hate it, I have to say Sienna might be better to lead us, at least for a little while."

"But if we start going down a bad path, what's guaranteeing we're ever gonna stop?" Blake asked. "It's like a downhill slide that never ends."

"Yeah. Like I said, it's complicated," Ilia shrugged. "I'm just gonna repeat what I'm always telling you, Blake. As long as I have you, I'll be fine. If the worst comes to pass, if we have to run or fight or whatever… It'll be okay because we'll be together."

"That's a nice way to look at it," Blake smiled. "Thanks for being my friend, Ilia."

"Hey, don't get sappy on me now." Ilia said, her skin turning red. She hissed quietly, forcing her skin back to normal, then redoubled her efforts on her clothes, as if to pretend nothing had happened.

* * *

After many hours that seemed to stretch on for an eternity, Blake heard the distant sound of a motor running and stood up. She watched Joshua's van enter the complex, then waited patiently beside the main building as he parked and got out, stretching his arms.

"Hey, kiddo," he said, looking down at her. "Were you waiting for me?" Blake nodded mutely. "Then come here."

Blake closed the distance between them, hugging him with all her strength. She felt him run a hand through her hair, then pat her on the back gently. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," he said. "Come on. I'm famished, and I think I have some snacks hidden in my office."

They entered the building, then went up a set of stairs to the first floor. The place was eerily empty. Sienna would normally be there at this time, but she had been busy these last days, and apparently, that was also true of today.

Joshua opened a door and ushered Blake into his office. She had been there a few times before. It was a quaint little room, with just a desk and some file cabinets, nothing too excessive. He walked over to the sole window in the office and opened it, letting in some much-needed fresh air.

"Search the drawers," he said, leaning against the windowsill. "There should be something there."

Blake followed his suggestion, opening the drawers on the desk one by one. The top one was empty. The next was almost bursting with files. One remained at the very bottom, and Blake had to crouch to open it.

As promised, there was a bag of sugary candies inside. Beside were a couple of photos, both depicting the same group of faunus. It took her a moment to realize one of them was Joshua, except much younger. Old friends? Perhaps the ones he had founded the White Fang with? If so, they were all gone now.

Blake shook her head, admonishing herself for lingering on the photos. For all she knew, Joshua had forgotten they were there and she had just discovered something he didn't want her to see. She took the snack and closed the drawer, then stood up.

Joshua looked back at her, smiling at the sight of the bag in her hands. "Ah, my favorite! Open up."

Blake ripped the package open, then offered it to him. Joshua fished out a handful of candies and put them in his mouth, humming contently. Blake took one and ate it gingerly. It was sweet, almost too sweet for her taste, but she could see why he would like that.

"So, how are things around here?" Joshua asked, sitting down on his desk. "Not so good, I assume."

"Kinda. Everyone's still very upset about Shade," Blake said. "We watched you on television. I liked what you said."

"Let me guess. You were mostly alone in that?"

"Yeah. Sienna said you just repeated what you're always saying about equality and working peacefully, but I don't see how that's a bad thing."

"Well, she wants change. Most of the White Fang does. And I can't really blame them for that," Joshua sighed. "I believe my reasoning is right, but I am very aware there will be bumps along the way. Bumps like Shade. As much as I loathe it, there is nothing I can do to change that. There will always be bumps, no matter what path you take."

"Sienna doesn't see that," Blake frowned. "She thinks she can do a better job than you, but if she took a moment to think…" She shook her head. "I don't get why she can't just be a little more reasonable."

Joshua took another handful of candies and ate them one by one. He looked tired, more tired than Blake had ever seen him. It made her want to hug him again.

"My brother was a very smart man, in some respects. He actually managed to build a profitable business all on his own. For a faunus, let alone a faunus in Vacuo…" He smiled bitterly. "Soon as he was old enough, he moved north, so far north it took a week to get there whenever I visited him. Folks are less hostile there. But even then, there was a limit. He crossed a line people just weren't comfortable with. A faunus businessman…"

"Sienna was thirteen when my brother and his wife died. She had a front row seat to it. The only reason she survived was because those monsters found some perverse satisfaction in letting her walk away," Joshua paused. "I don't blame anyone for being defined by the horrors they survived. I only blame myself for not being capable of soothing their pain and hatred."

Blake put the bag of candies down on the desk, blinking away her tears. She had never imagined that Sienna had such a painful past. Sure, there were hints. No one in the White Fang had led easy lives before joining. But to hear something like that be spoken out loud once again reminded Blake of the reality she lived in.

"So, what happens now?" She asked, her voice barely there. "Are you going to step down?"

"Oh, not even if they bribed me with a thousand of these delicious snacks!" Joshua waved her off. "No. I won't back down. These are difficult times, but that only means we need to stand even stronger in our beliefs," he said. "While I was out there, I arranged some things with Beacon. We'll be receiving a representative from them, and together we'll come up with something to strike back as we always have: peacefully and justly."

"Really?" Blake looked at him in awe. "That sounds great!"

"It will be!" Joshua agreed heartily. He looked down at his wrist watch. "Whoever they sent should already be here by now, though. Hmm…"

He stood up and walked to the window, looking towards the entrance of the complex.

Blake watched him in silence, biting her lip. Suddenly, she felt like telling Joshua about her Semblance, about the scientists, the experiments, everything. Somehow, she knew he would understand. Nothing would change about how he treated her. She could trust him.

She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when Joshua turned around with a worried expression on his face. "It's actually past the time their agent should have arrived. I gave word to our lookouts about the arrangement, but maybe something went wrong. I need to check."

"I'll go with you." Blake said, following him out of the room.

They went down the stairs fast and exited the building. Before they could get two steps from the entrance, they came to a screeching halt. Sienna had been about to enter, with what appeared to be the entirety of the White Fang watching on the street.

"Sienna," Joshua said, smiling warmly. "It's good to see you."

"Is it?" She retorted. "We need to talk."

"Yes, we do. We are in full agreement," Joshua nodded anxiously. "But we have even more pressing matters to attend to. Beacon was supposed to-"

"I know, Joshua. I heard all about it. One of our watchers saw fit to told me, because they trusted me more than you," Sienna stated. "A Beacon agent? _In_ o _ur home_? You've finally gone senile!"

"Now, Sienna, let's be reasonable," Joshua said. "Beacon has been nothing but helpful to us for years. They've earned our trust times over. If they can help us get closer to what we want, we must stop treating them like outsiders."

"And _what_ do we want, uncle? Tell me, because I honestly have lost track," Sienna scoffed. "Equality? That's never going to happen. Being tolerated? No, that's too small. Taking what the humans have? That would be _cruel_ ," she raised her hands helplessly. "Give me one good reason. Convince me, and do your best damn job, because you're standing at the edge of the plank right now."

Joshua scanned the crowd, his eyes going over each face, one by one, as if to commit them all to memory. With each that passed, he seemed to grow more tired. Blake started to reach for his hand, scared that he was about to crumble.

He closed his eyes for an instant, then faced his niece again. "Listen. All of you. I can't change how you feel. I can't erase decades of oppression and violence and tragedy. I'm just a man. I'm as lost as you are," he let out a hollow chuckle. "But I can see one way out. I don't know where it leads. It might be a worse place, for all I know. But we won't know unless we try," he sighed. "So, please. Let's give Beacon a chance. If we don't like what we hear, that's fine. I'll step down. No objections. No strings attached."

Sienna looked around. The crowd whispered. Blake's heart raced.

"You mean that." Sienna said. There was admiration in her voice, but also annoyance, if Blake wasn't mistaken.

"I mean everything I say, little one." Joshua pointed out.

"That's true. You do."

Sienna didn't say another word for a full minute.

"Alright," she nodded. "We'll give you one last shot, uncle. I hope it works out. I honestly do, because if it doesn't, I don't like what we'll have to-"

A gunshot rang through the night. People shrieked. Sienna stumbled back, then jumped forward, catching her uncle before he fell to the ground.

Blake watched. Red. Red. Red.

Eighteen.

The side of her skull rang with an exploding pain, and everything turned black.

* * *

"…coming to. Look. I knew she was fine."

"But she can't – Adam, you should have told me!"

"It wasn't my place."

Blake opened her eyes. Everything was too bright and blurry. She could make the vague outlines of two people crouching by her side.

"…What?"

"You got shot too," Adam replied. "Your Aura protected you, but you got knocked out. Your head also hit the ground."

"Ooh…" Blake gulped. "Wait… _Too_?"

She remembered. Suddenly, the pain was gone, replaced by a crippling numbness. Her vision cleared, and she looked to the side to see Joshua laid down on the ground, covered by a thin black sheet.

"How?" She croaked.

"Sniper shot from outside the complex. He's… not the only one," Sienna stood up. "We found the bastard who did it."

She dropped something, letting it fall beside Blake's head with a metallic clang. Blake turned to look and found a pristine Beacon badge.

She saw red again, but it wasn't blood this time.


	6. Wipe off the Dust

"Before, the White Fang was a safe haven, a place where people like me could live and grow. It wasn't perfect, but… it was a good thing," Blake paused. "That changed the night Joshua died."

Ozpin nodded solemnly. Blake remembered now. She had seen him once, long ago, right when she had met Joshua. They had been friends, or so Blake understood from what Joshua had told her about the Director of Beacon. Maybe that was why she was willing to trust him… along with her being detained in a top-security facility for being involved with terrorists. That was also a plausible reason.

"We investigated the White Fang's change of leadership quite thoroughly, but were never able to reach an exact conclusion on what happened," Ozpin said. "Your account sheds some light on the issue."

"That's good," Blake said. "But it doesn't mean much, does it? You've been chasing the White Fang for years, but never came close to catching us. Getting clarity on something you already knew is not going to change anything."

"You're right," the Director took of his glasses and put them down on the table. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

Ozpin leaned forward, staring at her. Without the glasses, his brown eyes appeared to have a drop of hazel in them, almost as if the two colors were trying to overtake one another. Blake looked away, disturbed.

"You said the White Fang changed," Ozpin recalled. "Did you change along with them, Blake?"

Blake pursed her lips. She could try to lie, but there was little point to it. She was talking to possibly the most powerful man in the world. And even if he didn't have the information to disprove her, he was too smart to believe her.

"I would like to say I didn't… but I did," Blake said. "Now that she was the new leader of the White Fang, Sienna could do everything she had always wanted with the organization. A lot of us followed without question. I had my doubts, but still… I thought I had learnt a lesson that night. I didn't want anything like it to happen ever again."

"And now we are here, three years later," Ozpin said. "How did the lesson hold up?"

* * *

"Can you believe it?" Adam stopped beside Blake, smiling dryly. "Just when you think the Schnees have hit their limit, they go and surprise you again..."

Blake put down her binoculars. It wasn't surprising at all to her, actually. Building a high-tech facility in the middle of the scorching Vacuo desert just to oversee a mine's activity was exactly the kind of thing she had come to expect from the SDC. And, to their credit, the building looked really good. She could only hope it wasn't a waste of space and money.

"You think they let the workers in there?" She asked.

"You think if I flap my arms really fast I can fly to the moon?" Adam replied.

"Point taken," Blake rolled her eyes. "Does this change the plan?"

"Not really. Sienna knew about the building when she started planning for this. But…" He smiled. "We could spare to do some damage there while you do the main stuff."

"And what, put me in even more risk than I already am?" Blake fixed him with a warning glare. "You can pass on the fun for one day, Adam."

Adam's shoulders rose and he opened his mouth, no doubt to reply to that in kind… but he breathed out, letting the matter go. "You're right."

He turned and went back to their car, hidden behind the dune they were standing on, and gestured for the driver. After a few moments, the man tossed him a bag, and Adam came back to Blake.

"Alright. Remember, you gotta spread these strategically for maximum damage. We wanna bury the whole thing, make it difficult for them to ever use it again," Adam said. "We can't depend on our comms out here, so you'll have two hours to do your job and get out."

"What if there are workers down there?" Blake asked.

"There shouldn't be, but if there are… Improvise." He shrugged.

"That's a solid plan," Blake sighed, hanging the bag on her shoulder. "Alright, then. Wish me luck."

She looked up at him, taking in his little smile. It did little to reassure her. After a moment, Blake shook her head and walked away.

* * *

The entrance to the mine was located in a pit, surrounded on all sides by a wooden barricade where guards stood upon to watch for intruders. The SDC building was to the right of it, rising from the ground like an obelisk of old.

Approaching at night would sound like a person's best bet on infiltrating the mine unnoticed, but along with the scars and nightmares Blake had collected over the years doing these kinds of jobs, had also come experience and knowledge. She knew that a day in the desert was just as, if not far more helpful than the guise of night, for several reasons.

For one, there was the harsh light of the sun. At first thought, that would seem counterproductive, but it could actually conceal a person's presence if they knew how to use it to their advantage. The sand and the sunlight's reflecting on it was very tiring on the eyes, especially when one stared for too long, as lookouts obligatorily did.

The heat was another factor, draining the strength and goodwill of even the most professional of guards. If the SDC were smart, they would organize frequent shift changes of their lookouts, but even then, that would only help so much.

At night, the desert was cool, if not refreshing sometimes, there were flashlights and searchlights to take into account, and that was when intruders were most expected. No, day was the far better choice, but she would still need to be very careful.

There was a gate on the south side of the barricade, which Blake obviously did not intend to come any near of. Instead, she came from the east, keeping the sun on her back so anyone who looked in her direction would be immediately discouraged by its glare.

When she came closer to the barricade, where that tactic would be less reliable, she stopped and crouched low, watching the guards attentively. There were two on the east side, one at the extreme north corner, the other closer to the middle. Blake moved a little south, then waited patiently. When the guard in the middle bowed his head to wipe his bow, cursing under his breath, she broke into a run, crossing fifteen meters before he raised his head again.

Breathing deeply, Blake pressed her back against the barricade, taking a moment to recompose herself. Once she was feeling better, she turned and peered at the other side of the barricade. There was plenty of space for her to slip through, and there seemed to be no one standing immediately on the other side to catch her in the act. From there… well, that was the part that no amount of experience could prepare her for.

Making sure her bag was still strapped safely around her shoulder, Blake bent low and moved forward, avoiding the support beans that held up the barricade. She could hear the faint creaking of the guard's feet on the wood above her, and had to twist her nose to keep from sneezing when a cloud of dust fell upon her.

On the other side, Blake looked up. The guards were all focused on the outside right now, but if just one of them turned and saw her, it was over. She had no cover to hide behind, so she would have to move fast and count on her luck. Sadly, she had far too little of that in stock, as always.

Keeping close to the barricade, Blake ran towards the mine. The sand was soft, her boots causing only the slightest the noise, and she knew that if _she_ could barely hear it, the guards couldn't hear anything at all.

Sliding into a halt, Blake reached the entrance of the mine and slipped inside, blending with the shadows. There was no one around. Sighing with relief, Blake pressed her back to a wall and opened her bag. She shifted through the explosives carefully and pulled out a radio.

Blake and Adam had learned the hard way that it was never safe to use radio communication in this kind of situation. The SDC had ways of listening in on them. But while she might not be able to talk to him, she could still send a message. She turned on the radio, waited three second, and snapped her fingers. Another tree seconds, then she turned it off.

 _I'm in_.

And now came the tricky part.

* * *

The mine was surprisingly small, at least compared to the others Blake had visited before. For such a well-guarded facility, she had expected the tunnels to go on and on to no end, but as it turned out, they did not go too deep. Perhaps they had just started work here, though she doubted that was the case.

It was more likely that the Dust veins here were what warranted such special care. Blake didn't know much about Dust, but she was aware that there were different kinds of it, some rarer than others, and that in turn made them more profitable.

The tragic aspect of Dust mining, at least from the eyes of the SDC, was that the thing that made it so valuable also made it extremely dangerous. One misstep in an operation, and everything goes up in flames – or ice, or lightning, or the sudden inversion of gravity. No wonder there were so many casualties in the business.

As much as Blake hated the methods she had fallen into, she couldn't deny that she took some perverse delight in blowing up these mines. It was her honest belief that the less Dust there was in the world, the better, and that was before accounting for the losses SDC suffered from it.

That belief was what carried her through her mission, through littering the tunnels with explosives. As Adam had said, she couldn't put them just anywhere, they had to be placed strategically, but with the mine being smaller than expected, it turned out that she had a lot of leeway regarding that.

She was midway through attaching an explosive to a wall when she heard a sharp noise, like metal colliding against metal, echoing from one of the tunnels she had yet to explore. Blake paused, holding in her breath. The sound repeated itself. After a few moments, she hissed, recognizing the sound.

A pickaxe. There were people working here, after all.

Cursing silently, Blake hastily finished attaching the explosive, then sprinted down the tunnel. Unlike the rest, this one was illuminated by fluorescent lights on the ceiling, which shook with every strike of the distant pickaxe.

Blake came to the end of the tunnel, where two men were working through a vein of purple Dust. Their clothes and skin were filthy, and she could tell by their posture they were exhausted. Nevertheless, they kept going, taking turns on striking the ore with their pickaxes.

"Hey," she said, trying to keep an even tone, but her voice echoed loudly throughout the tunnel. The men jumped in surprise and turned around, their eyes widening as they saw her. "Don't panic. It's just me."

One of them recovered fast, shaking his head and fixing her with a concerned stare. Blake pursed her lips, recognizing that look. It wasn't any less insulting coming from an adult.

"Who are you?" The man asked. "Are you lost?"

"I'm right where I'm supposed to be," Blake said. "I'm with the White Fang. This mine is filled with explosives. In one hour, those will blow up, collapsing everything around them. You need to leave before that happens."

"Excuse me?" He blinked. "Are you telling me _you_ are responsible for that? You're gonna blow up this place?"

Blake raised her chin, meeting eyes with him. "Do you doubt me?"

The man met her stare for a few seconds, then looked away. Suddenly, his partner took a step towards her, raising an arm. Blake recoiled, reaching for the gun on the back of her belt…

"Don't do this," he said, touching her shoulder. "Please."

Blake froze, looking up at him in confusion. She had dealt with unfortunate bystanders before. They had been angry, relieved, scared… but never this. "What?"

"This is my livelihood," the man said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I lose this, and my daughters lose their food."

"This…" Blake swallowed dry, her words getting stuck in her throat. "This is for your own good. We'll help you. The White Fang will help you."

"I never asked for anyone's help."

Blake closed her eyes for a moment, then took a step back and drew her gun, pointing it at the man's forehead. She steeled herself, putting up an emotionless expression, hoping that would hide how badly her hands were shaking.

" _Leave_."

The workers shared a fearful glance, then stepped past her, dropping their pickaxes. Blake turned slowly, keeping her pistol aimed at them. Once they were out of sight, she released her breath and leaned against a wall, her knees buckling.

What was she doing here? How had things come to this point?

Shaking her head, Blake stood firm again and took another explosive from her back. She still had a job and a time limit to accomplish it under. As awful as this last encounter had left her, she'd rather not dally and end up buried under a collapsed mine.

She started to approach the purple Dust vein, thinking that it would add a rather nasty effect to the already devastating explosion she was setting up, but before she could get to work, a familiar voice came through her radio.

" _Blake, get out of there_ right now _._ "

"Adam?" Blake fished the radio out of the bag. "Why are you talking to me? You're going to get me-"

" _You're gonna get caught anyway, I'm giving you a chance to escape!_ " Adam said. " _Schnee's brat is here to inspect the mine. She's going in as we speak. If you're fast enough, maybe you can-_ "

"If she's coming in right now, my cover's already blown," Blake interrupted. "I came across two workers down here and sent them away. She's gonna cross paths with them, for sure."

" _Shit…_ " Adam was silent for a moment. " _Alright, Blake, run. Don't bother being stealthy. We're blowing up the mine._ "

"And burying her with it?" Blake shook her head. "You can't. That's going too far. Imagine the hell the SDC would rain on us."

" _Yeah, well. You have five minutes._ "

Blake looked at the radio, bewildered, but it was dead silent now. She threw it away and took off, running as fast as her legs would allow her. Her heart rose to her throat, beating wildly. She expected to feel a searing heat behind her at any moment, followed by the crushing weight of the ceiling. She wondered if she would die right away, or be left in a cage with no exit. Would Adam come looking for her?

Blake reached the main hub of the mine and came to a screeching halt. The exit was right there, but between her and it stood a woman she recognized from long ago. She had white hair bundled up in a bun behind her head, and she wore a white uniform not fitting for spending time on such a dusty, filthy place. She had grown, but not by a lot. She seemed… weary? Or perhaps she was just frustrated.

Judging by the look she gave her, Blake was comfortable settling for the latter option.

"Halt," she ordered, her voice ringing throughout the mine. "You are invading SDC property. Worse than that, you are sabotaging our operations. Cease this foolishness, stand down, and you just might be shown mercy."

"Sorry. That's not entirely up to me," Blake raised her pistol. "This place is going to collapse anytime now. I suggest you let me go and save yourself."

"Do you think I'm afraid of you, little girl? You have friends, I know, but even so, you are so far out of your depth, it's not even funny," the woman sneered. "My name is Winter Schnee. You will stand down willingly, or I will force you to do so."

Blake aimed her gun higher and pulled the trigger, shooting the ceiling above Winter. The heiress looked up, confused, and while she was distracted, Blake ran straight at her.

Winter recovered quickly, taking a step forward and swinging a hand in a horizontal chop that would have caught Blake in the neck for debilitating damage. As it was, her hand passed through the clone, dissipating it. For a moment, the Schnee stood still, not knowing what had just happened, then she turned around and saw Blake heading towards the exit.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Winter shouted, raising a hand.

Blake made to jump, and just as her feet left the ground, her ears were deafened by a dozen consecutive explosions, and she felt a staggering force rumble through her. She soared through the air, her vision turning black fast…

* * *

"Blake! Get up!"

She opened her eyes as she was pulled to her feet, one arm being thrown around Adam's shoulder. Blake blinked several times to get the dust out of her eyes and moved her ears until she heard a soft _pop!_ and could hear everything properly again.

"What…?" She looked around. All the guards from before were now on the ground. Whether they were unconscious or dead, she couldn't tell. The three White Fang members they had brought along were standing nearby, weapons still at hand.

"We came in as soon as you got into trouble," Adam said. "You needed the path cleared ahead of time. Bad news is, reinforcements will be coming soon. We need to get moving."

"Schnee," Blake looked at the collapsed mine. "She's under there, somewhere."

"I know what you're thinking, and I actually agree with you. Much as I loathe to say it, it would be better for us if we didn't hurt her," Adam sighed. "It's too late now, though. The odds of her having survived the collapse are slim, and that's without factoring that she might have been caught in the blast. Best for us to just-"

There was a loud rumble, then suddenly a bunch of rocks from the collapsed mine went soaring up to the sky. A flash of white came from the hole they left behind, and out of it stumbled Winter Schnee, looking as one would after being buried under dozens of dirt, rock and wood…

Not happy. But, to her credit, she still kept her sense of duty.

"Stand. Down!" She yelled, spreading her arms, shoulders rising and falling.

"Jeez. She's really mad," Adam said, and Blake could tell he was more impressed than anything else. "Shoot her up."

Before Blake could protest, their colleagues had already followed Adam's orders, unleashing their firearms' ammunition without reserve.

Winter closed her hands and brought them together. In front of her, the air shimmered for a split second, then a circle of white energy popped into existence, its borders lined with strange runes. It spun like a winding clock, deflecting the bullets as if they were made of rubber.

"What the hell?!" Blake exclaimed, staring in utter confusion. Was that some new piece of technology, or…?

Winter pulled back her hands, but the circle did not cease to be. She fished something out of her pocket, then thrust it into her conjure. The circle turned from white to yellow and shrunk rapidly until it was a fifth of its original size.

"Dust!" Adam yelled, shoving Blake away, then jumped to the side. A bolt of lightning arced through the space between them, nearly hit one of the other White Fang, then collided against the wooden barricade around the mine, tearing it to pieces before finally dissipating.

Blake rose back to her feet and turned to look at Winter. The heiress had another Dust crystal in her hand, this time displaying it clearly. "That was your warning shot," Winter said. "Stand down."

Blake looked at Adam questioningly. He nodded. Blake raised her hands above her head and kneeled slowly, all the while keeping her eyes trained on their foe. Winter watched her silently, breathing laboriously. She lowered the hand that held the Dust crystal, and her circle started to shrink…

 _BANG_!

Winter's head snapped to the side. The bullet bounced on the ground with a shrill noise. Time seemed to slow as she turned to look at Adam, her eyes sparking with the fury she had been containing until now.

"Well," Adam dropped his pistol. "It was a good try."

Winter shoved the Dust crystal into her conjure, unleashing an even bigger lightning bolt directly at Adam. Blake jumped to her feet and screamed, but her voice couldn't rise above the thunderous blast. She closed her eyes as everything turned white…

And when she opened them again, Adam still stood, his arms crossed in front of his face, sparks arcing from his head to his feet. He looked up, crossing eyes with Winter, and smirked.

"This is your warning shot."

He thrust his hands forward, unleashing the energy he had absorbed from the lightning bolt as a crimson wave of pure destruction, ripping the earth as it flew towards Winter. The human conjured another circle, protecting herself in the nick of time, but it soon shattered under the formidable attack. She flew back into the crumbles of the mine and collapsed there, out cold.

Adam lowered his hands. Blake looked from him to Winter, then back to him. After what felt like an eternity, he met her eyes and spoke again.

"Let's get the hell out of here."

* * *

"Nice job."

Blake blinked, taking her eyes off the window of the car for the first time in hours. She looked at Adam at the driver's seat. "What?"

"I said nice job," he said. "Complications aside, this was actually a productive day. One of our best, really. And that's all on you, Blake."

"Thanks."

She didn't feel like she deserved any praise for the day. Sure, the mission had gone splendidly well. The troubles she had faced hadn't been her fault at all, and she had handled them without big difficulty. Still…

_Don't do this. Please._

Blake leaned her elbow on the car door, rubbing her forehead tiredly. She could feel a headache coming. A particularly bad one, the kind that stayed for days and for which there was no remedy. "Adam, what are we doing?"

"The same as always," Adam replied matter-of-factly. "Making a difference."

"Are we?"

Adam turned to look at her briefly, scowling. "Yes. Now more than ever," he said. "The White Fang has more than tripled. We're now operating across half of Vacuo. The SDC is scared of even speaking about us. So, yeah, we are making a big damn difference."

"That doesn't mean things are better," Blake said bitterly. "We're hurting people. And not just the Schness."

"Alright. I get it," Adam clucked his tongue. "This isn't just about what we're doing. This is about Winter Schnee and her Semblance, isn't it?"

Blake crossed her arms. Once again, she was rudely reminded of how well Adam knew her. She hadn't said a word about it, but he had seen right through her. And as much as she would like to object to his theory, she knew he would see through that as well.

"Yeah, she has a Semblance. I was surprised too," Adam said. "But it doesn't matter. She's not like us, Blake. She's a human and a Schnee, and nothing can change that," he paused. "You know I'm right."

Blake looked away, her lips pressed together tightly. It had been an eventful day. She had been blasted, thrown around, nearly buried alive, and had seen her dearest friend nearly be killed before her eyes. She was weary and hurt. Yet sleep wasn't even on the menu for her. It wouldn't be for days.

"Yes," she said. "I know."


	7. Crash and burn

The metal gate slid slowly to the side, producing a screeching noise as it dragged along the ground, sparks flying in the dry desert air. Behind it, the complex was shrouded in darkness, except for a few houses from which light still escaped their windows. The place was as silent as Blake remembered, but that now filled her with a sense of foreboding.

"Home sweet home," Adam said, driving in. "Or however the saying goes. Want me to drop you off at Ilia's?"

"No, I'm fine. I need to walk a bit, take in some fresh air," Blake said. "If you talk to Sienna, tell her I said hi."

"Okay."

Blake opened the door and hopped off the car. As she turned to close it, she noticed Adam staring at her still with a trouble look on his face.

"Adam?" She called. "What's up?"

"Nothing," he said, falling back into his usual confident self. "You know if there's anything wrong, you can talk always talk to me, right?"

"Yeah," Blake nodded. "We're friends."

"We're you and me," Adam agreed. "Alright, then. See you tomorrow."

He stepped on the accelerator, driving away towards the main building, which now belonged to him. Blake watched him leave anxiously, then turned and walked away.

* * *

"Ilia?" Blake stepped inside the house and turned on the lights. "I'm back."

She waited for an answer, but none came. Blake perked up her ears, trying to make out any distinctive noises from her friend, but aside from the creaking of the house and the insects outside, there was nothing. She wasn't worried, though. Ilia was probably somewhere else in the complex, helping with one thing or another.

Blake went to the fridge and took out a bottle of water. Hours of traveling across the desert had left her thirstier than she could put to words, and her body was numb after that and the mission. A taste of something cold was just what she needed.

After gulping down the content of the bottle all at once, she tossed it in the garbage can and left the kitchen. After Sienna had left the complex in Adam's hands, he had hooked Ilia and Blake with a proper house. It was not big by any means, just one kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, but it was better than the tent they had been living in before.

Sighing, Blake entered the bedroom and immediately plopped down onto her bed. She looked up at the ceiling, blinking drowsily. She was more exhausted than she had realized. Just the feeling of a soft mattress under her had her struggling to keep awake.

But she couldn't sleep… She didn't know why, but it didn't feel right. How could she rest? After… everything…?

"Hey." The lights turned on. Blake sat up, her heart racing suddenly, and saw Ilia standing in the doorway, one finger on the light switch.

"Holy…" Blake rubbed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. "Did you just come back now?"

"What? No. I was sleeping right there in my bed," Ilia raised an eyebrow. "Did you not see me? _Hear_ me? You're the one that complains about my snoring."

"I… didn't," Blake said. "I'm very tired."

"That, or I've stopped snoring," Ilia frowned. "You probably have the right idea."

Blake nodded. For such a small person, Ilia could certainly snore up a storm. Maybe that was amplified by Blake's cat ears, but she doubted she would be any less bothered if she didn't have them.

"How did the mission go?" Ilia asked, sitting at the edge of Blake's bed.

"It went fine. One less Dust mine for the SDC to profit from. One less place for faunus workers to be abused at." Blake said.

"Hmm. You usually sound more upbeat when things go that smoothly. Well, as upbeat as Blake Belladonna can get," Ilia noted. "Something happened."

"It's no big deal. Winter Schnee was there, we had to fight her," Blake shrugged. "Didn't slow us down much."

"That sounds like a really big deal, actually," Ilia said. "Is she…?"

"Alive. Like I said, it was no big deal."

Ilia stared at her, brow furrowed. Blake looked away. Sometimes Ilia could be even worse than Adam with how she could tell when Blake was keeping something to herself. But unlike Adam, Ilia was considerate enough to hold back from prying.

It wasn't that Blake didn't trust her, but she doubted Ilia would understand. How could she, when Blake herself didn't? A Schnee with a Semblance… That meant something, and she had yet to figure out what that was.

"Okay. You can tell me more tomorrow," Ilia said, getting up. She wasn't upset, or at least she didn't appear to be, in Blake's eyes. "While you were on your blowing-stuff-up mission, I went on a supply run with some of the guys, and I got us some pretty cool stuff."

"Like what?" Blake asked, glad for the change of conversation.

"Some basic things, like clothes and soap and cleaning utensils… Lots of food, including, _most importantly_ ," Ilia smiled smugly. "Fish. Lots of fish."

"That's racist," Blake blinked. "…Can we cook some for tomorrow's lunch?"

"Absolutely. Lastly, I got you a gift," Ilia went to the nightstand beside her bed and opened a drawer. "I don't know if you'll like it since I don't read much, but…"

She handed the book over. Blake examined its cover, then turned it to read the blurb at the back.

"Apparently it's about two girls going on all sorts of adventures, getting into trouble, learning about themselves…" Ilia's voice slowly faded into a murmur. "Well, it was either that or post-apocalyptic disinstopia-"

"Dystopia."

"Yeah, that thing you're sick of reading," Ilia said. "Did I make a good call?"

"Yes, you did," Blake smiled. "Thanks, Ilia."

For a second or two, Ilia's skin turned red, then she hurried back to her bed and laid down. Blake covered her mouth with the book to hide her amusement.

It was good to be home.

* * *

The next day, Blake awoke to the smell of fried fish. In an instant, she was out of bed, marching through the doorway towards the kitchen, but was brought to a halt when she took a sniff of herself. She hadn't taken a bath or changed clothes in almost a week. For a moment, she stood frozen, tempted by the smell of her favorite meal, and disgusted by her own. Ultimately, she chose the responsible route and went back to the bedroom, grabbed herself a fresh set of clothes, then entered the bathroom.

If a night's worth of sleep hadn't reinvigorated her fully, standing under the shower did the rest of the job. Blake wasn't the type to take long baths, but this time, she felt she deserved one. It was relaxing, and it kept her doubts away for a little while more.

Once she was done, Blake hopped out of the shower, dried herself, and dressed herself in record time. Lunch was twice as tempting now that she was clean. She made a beeline for the kitchen, where she found Ilia arranging their plates and silverware, an apron wrapped around her waist.

"Good morning."

"Hey! Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Ilia replied, a little more cheerfully than normal. "Feeling better?"

"Very," Blake said. "Did you already make lunch?"

Ilia nodded, taking a frying pan from the oven and putting on the kitchen table. Blake's mouth watered as she looked at the fried fish. The only thing that kept her from diving in right then and there were her manners.

"You should have woken me up to help you." She said, licking her lips.

"No. You needed sleep, and a bath," Ilia objected. "Besides, every time you help me cook fish, half of it disappears before we're done."

"That's not… a bad point," Blake crossed her arms stubbornly. "Still. I don't like you doing stuff for me."

Ilia glared at her. "I suppose I should give this to someone who would appreciate it, then."

"That's not what I meant!" Blake exclaimed, sitting down obediently. "Thank you, wife, for this gracious meal."

Ilia puffed up her cheeks, a telltale sign that she was fighting to keep her skin tone from changing. She cleared her throat and sat down, grabbing a fork as if it were some sort of ancient relic.

"You are welcome," she said evenly. "Now eat."

Blake didn't have to be told twice. Ilia flinched, taken aback by the ferocity with which she ate from the get-go, but Blake paid her no mind. Her world now consisted only of herself and fish, fish and herself. Ilia could wait for when she was done.

Lunch went on as expected, which meant that it ended early, by Blake's fault, which she admitted freely, if not with a bit of shame. Fortunately, Ilia had reserved a quarter of the food for herself well in advance, having learned that strategy from past meals.

"You really like fish." Ilia said. It wasn't a question. It was barely even a comment. It was more like a statement of a universal truth, like water being wet or the sun being warm.

"I do," Blake agreed, slumping in her chair, resting a hand on her belly. "It will probably be the death of me."

"Blake Belladonna, done in by eating too much fish," Ilia smiled. "It's poetic justice."

"Yep. Thanks, Ilia," Blake sighed. "I really needed this."

Ilia opened her mouth to say something, but a knock on the front door stopped her. Blake groaned, extending a hand towards the door. She couldn't find the strength to stand again.

"I'll get it." Ilia said, standing up.

Blake mumbled something unintelligible, getting comfortable again. After a couple minutes, Ilia came back, but didn't sit down.

"Who was it?" Blake asked.

"Some guy. He had a message from Adam," Ilia answered. "He wants to see you as soon as possible. Apparently, it's something very important."

Blake drew in her breath, the satisfaction she had been building up since the night before quickly diminishing at the news.

"It hasn't been a day yet," she said. "How _important_ can this be?"

"I don't know. It's always important with Adam," Ilia said, echoing Blake's bitterness. "You don't have to go if you don't want to. You're not his slave."

Blake pursed her lips. "Yeah, but he needs me."

"He _always_ needs you," Ilia objected. "Come on, Blake. You're tired."

"I slept a full night."

"You know that's not what I mean."

Blake sat still for a while, feeling Ilia's intense stare upon her. Finally, she stood up. Ilia shook her head, then opened the front door.

"I can't stop you," she said. "But you don't have to agree to help Adam. You have a choice."

"I know." Blake replied shortly.

Ilia sighed. She knew that didn't change anything.

* * *

"We've done a lot of work over the last three years. Mine after mine, facility after facility, that's taken its toll on the SDC. _But_ that's not enough anymore. We need to step up our game," Adam paused. "We need to strike them in a way that'll _really_ hurt, target the thing that makes their operation here work."

Adam pressed his finger on the map between them, dragging a line from north to south across the Vacuo desert. It took a while for Blake to understand what he meant.

"The Schnee Railway," she said. "You can't be serious."

"Why not?" Adam smirked. "It's the perfect target. Think about it. Without the Railway, the SDC has no means to transport their employees, from the mine workers to the top human executives, and the Dust they produce. It would bring an absolute standstill to their business on Vacuo for months, if not _years_."

"Yes, I get that, but… it's just a massive undertaking, Adam," Blake said. "Just how would we do it?"

"Like we always do," Adam stated. " _Kaboom_. They have one main train. That's the one we need to take out, and in the process, we'll damage the railway too."

"It's cutting-edge technology, Adam!" Blake exclaimed. "We can't just… _kaboom_ something like that!"

"Blake, please. Sienna and I have that worked out already," he assured. "Trust me, it'll work."

Blake sat down on her chair. On the list of what she had expected to hear from Adam, this wasn't even on it. It sounded like a recipe for disaster, a mad plan concocted after a series of successful missions, ignoring that those had been much safer and smaller in their nature.

"Why do you need my help, then, if you have everything figured out already?" She asked.

"Why would I _not_ want you on this mission? You're one of our best, Blake." Adam replied.

Blake bit her lip, barely keeping herself from unloading on Adam. She wanted to tell him how tired she was, how those missions were starting to take a toll on her, but she knew how he would take it. He would listen, and he would let her do as she pleased, but things would never be the same between them.

"That's not going to cut it, Adam," she said, measuring every word carefully. "Tell me why I need to be there. Was it Sienna's idea? Just tell me."

"No," Adam paused. "Not entirely."

Blake rolled her eyes. Could he be any more predictable?

Adam pulled up a chair directly in front of her and sat down, facing her. "Listen well, Blake. You can't repeat this to anyone, not even Ilia, okay?" Blake nodded hesitantly. "There's a Beacon spy somewhere within the White Fang. It might be in our complex, might be in Sienna's… Who knows. The point is, they are gonna know about us trying something big like this, and they'll try to stop us."

Blake blinked, processing the information slowly. It wasn't that farfetched of an idea. Beacon was, after all, the most powerful intelligence agency on Remnant. They had interfered with the White Fang before, as Blake remembered very, very vividly. Why would they have stopped there?

"We'll try to misdirect them. But they will connect the dots, that's certain," Adam said. "We don't know what will happen during the mission, how things might change and what we'll need to do. That's why I want you by my side. There's no one I trust more to get things done."

Great, Blake thought. The trust card. The little girl and the little boy, separated by a glass wall. It came down to that.

It always came down to that.

"…When do we leave?"

* * *

Blake spent most the following week inside, feeling no inclination to help Adam with the preparations for the mission. It was busy work, and she had just gotten back home. She deserved a little bit of rest.

That wasn't the only thing keeping her from helping, though. Now that she knew there was a Beacon spy in their midst, just the thought of stepping outside her house made her anxious. She still remembered the pain of being shot by a sniper rifle a hundred meters away, and the horrible sight of the other targets – one in particular – who didn't have an Aura to protect them.

By all rights, she should be angry, just as she had been then, but all she felt was fear. Time heals all wounds, people say. Blake didn't agree. Some wounds dull, change, hide under the surface, but they never heal. Those are the worst kind.

If only she could tell Ilia. Adam had been very clear about the matter, and while Blake doubted he would ever find out if she disobeyed him, she actually agreed with him. One word heard by the wrong ears, and the mission, if not the whole complex, was over.

And so, as much as she tried to pry any information from Blake, Ilia did not learn a thing about the spy and the mission. She wasn't angry. Ilia rarely got angry, or she was a master of hiding her emotions. But Blake could still tell something was bothering her.

When the day of the mission came, Ilia accompanied Blake to the front gate of the complex, where two vans awaited. Adam was nearby, watching as part of the group he had chosen for the mission loaded up the vehicles with tight-sealed metal boxes.

"Is that Dust?" Ilia asked. " _How much_ Dust is that?"

"A lot, evidently." Blake answered. There was no point lying about something right in front of their faces.

"Damn. So the plan is to blow up the moon, right?" Ilia shook her head in disbelief. "Blake, I don't know about this."

"It's fine," Blake said. "Just another mission."

She went towards the vans, but Ilia grabbed her by the hand and pulled her back.

"Blake. When I talk about us running away, I'm always serious," Ilia whispered. "There's nothing keeping us here. We can just _leave_."

Blake stared at her for a moment, completely stunned. She had never doubted Ilia's loyalty, but she had never realized how serious she was about running away. And, if she had to be honest, hearing that was more than tempting…

"No," Blake somehow found the strength to speak. "This is important."

"To who?" Ilia tightened her grip on her hand. "Adam?"

"The White Fang. The faunus. Everyone."

"God, Blake. You're unbelievable," Ilia exhaled. "The cause is not going to fall apart because one fourteen-year-old girl ran away."

Blake pursed her lips and looked away. Nothing Ilia said would change her mind, and the reverse was just as true. There was no use in arguing.

Ilia sighed, stepping forward to hug her. Blake couldn't help but be surprised by the gesture.

"Just come back with all your arms and legs intact, you stubborn cat." Ilia muttered on her shoulder.

"Hey, aren't you the one who's always telling me to not get all sappy?" Blake noted. "You're such a wife."

"Shut up," Ilia said through gritted teeth. "I'm not blushing this time."

"Sure you aren't," Blake stepped out of the hug. "I'll be back soon. Then we'll give that running away thing some real thought, alright?"

Ilia nodded hesitantly. Blake gave her one last smile, then turned and walked to the vans.

"You ready?" Adam asked, taking his attention off the last boxes being loaded. "We might be away a while."

"I'm readier than I'll ever be," Blake said. She paused, looking at the boxes curiously. "Where did we get this much Dust?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "You'd have to ask Sienna."

Accepting that would be the only answer she'd get, Blake walked past him and jumped into the front seat of one of the vans. After a couple minutes, Adam joined the other as the driver.

"Well then, folks," he said. "Let's hit the gas."

* * *

The first few hours went by uneventfully. They took the main road, crossing familiar ground across the Vacuo desert. There was no sign of them being followed.

Blake's van was mostly silent. It was her, accompanied by three men she had known since joining the White Fang. They seemed to be just as anxious as her. Adam's van was much more packed, and as far as she could tell, everyone there had joined after Sienna had become leader. She doubted that was mere coincidence.

It was nearing dusk when Blake's radio buzzed for the first time.

" _Blake. Bad, unsurprising news_ ," Adam said. " _I just got word we're being followed. Beacon's gonna catch up to us by nightfall at the latest._ "

"That _is_ bad news," Blake frowned. "What's the plan?"

" _Remember what I said about us misdirecting them and my trusting you? Those are one and the same_ ," Adam paused. " _I'm gonna cut through the desert. You stay on the road, keep their attention away from us_."

"So… we're bait?" Blake's driver butted in.

" _No. You're a decoy_ ," Adam corrected. " _That's why you have less people and Dust. Lighter weight gives you more chance to outmaneuver them._ "

"They're freaking Beacon, Adam. We're on a van," Blake bristled. "Doesn't having less stuff make it better in case we get caught?"

" _Blake, come on. If I wanted bait, you would not be in that van. I trust you,_ " Adam insisted. " _We'll meet up later. I'll contact you on the radio and tell you the rendezvous point, so don't lose it. Good luck._ "

Before she could protest, Adam's van pulled out of the road and headed into the desert, driving over dunes, quickly disappearing in the horizon. Blake's driver cursed loudly, slamming his fist on the steering wheel.

"Goddamn brat!" He yelled. "Knew we couldn't trust him."

"No point in being upset now," Blake said, suddenly feeling very small. "We got the short stick, but let's not give up because of it."

"Right," the driver breathed in deeply. "Hold on to something, everyone!"

He stomped on the accelerator, bringing the van to its top speed in a second. The desert became a blurred mess, tinted orange by the setting sun. Blake grit her teeth, alarmed by how fast they were going.

Almost half an hour later, when night had already fallen, they were forced to slow down as they arrived at a narrow pathway, one side blocked by a miniature mountain, the other a steep, rocky descent that led into one of the few small towns scattered throughout the northern desert. Just as they stabilized at a comfortable speed, Blake's ear perked up, barely registering a sharp, quiet noise, like paper sliding off a table.

Suddenly, there was an aircraft hovering just a little behind them, three times the size of their van and with guns mounted below each wing.

"What the- they were cloaked!" The driver shouted. "Shit, are they going to fire on us?"

"They would have done that already," Blake said. "They're not gonna open fire. Not yet."

"They're gonna try to block the road or something," one of the faunus at the back said. "We should forget caution and-"

The aircraft slowed down, and a hangar door opened beneath it. As Blake watched, a motorcycle sped out of it, fell swiftly down, and landed with a deceptively soft bump. Despite her night vision, Blake couldn't make out who was driving it.

"Oh, okay," the driver said, adopting the tone of voice of someone who had endured double of what they could take for life in a single day. "They just dropped someone out of the sky to chase us on a motorcycle. That's not worrying at all."

"Whoever that is, we don't want them to catch up to us," Blake said. "What do we do?"

"We have some firepower of our own," someone on the back pointed out. "We can collapse the wall behind us and block their way."

"Do it!"

The three faunus on the backseat shuffled through the weapons they had at their disposal, eventually settling for a bazooka. Blake was so full of adrenaline she didn't even have the presence of mind to question how they had acquired something like that.

Together, they took aim at the mountain to their right and shot. The missile struck the wall, producing a powerful explosion that in turn caused a rockslide to come down between them and their chaser.

"Woo!" The driver yelled, taking a hand off the wheel to celebrate. "That was badass!"

There was the revving of an engine, so loud that it overwhelmed the van's, and then their chaser reappeared, driving on the side of the mountain, passing the improvised blockade before returning to the road.

"Alright," the driver said. "Can we just shoot them? That sounds like a foolproof plan."

The others echoed an agreement. Blake's eyes widened. "We can't just _shoot_ them with a bazooka! Have you gone crazy?!"

"Oops," one of her companions whistled. "Already loaded."

"No!"

The missile came without warning, hitting the motorcycle directly and engulfing it in a puff of smoke and dirt. Blake cursed under her breath, slumping in her seat.

The aircraft hovered closer to them, shining a light upon the van. " _We attempted to halt your advancement in a non-lethal manner_ ," a voice blared from it. " _Consider that mercy revoked_."

Suddenly, the air was filled with bullets. Everyone pressed close to the floor of the van, including the driver, but that proved to be futile, as their being hit was the least of their problems.

First the wheels were torn to shreds and they went sliding on the road, sparks flying around them. Then a bullet pierced through one of Dust boxes at the trunk. The van went flying upwards, propelled by a sudden inferno. They spun and spun, their bodies like ragdolls, before the van landed upside down on the decline.

The impact of the landing sent Blake out the window. She crashed against the rocks, her body flaring up with pain as her Aura drained quickly. She watched as the van rolled down and down and down, until it reached the town below, almost levelling a gas station.

Not long after, Blake herself started sliding down, but she lost consciousness before hitting the ground again.

* * *

When she woke up, it was because she was being dragged to her knees. Blake turned her head up slowly, only to have something smashed against her face, throwing her back down, her head ringing.

She could see three people in front of her. Silhouettes. Featureless. But humans. That was certain.

"Filth!" A kick to the stomach. "You almost destroyed our town!"

Blake doubled over, clutching her belly. A hand wrapped around her hair and lifted her head. Grunting, Blake summoned what little was left of her strength and made a clone, slipping out of her abuser's grip.

She couldn't crawl for two seconds before the clone dissipated, and the humans grew even more furious.

"Shit! What the-"

"It's a demon! A w-witch!"

"Just shoot it! Shoot it!"

The click of the gun was deafening to her ears. Blake lifted her hands in front of her face and closed her eyes, knowing that would do nothing to protect her. No Aura. No Semblance. No Adam. It was over.

And for what?

"Just do it, you moron! What are you waiting for?!"

"W-what if it has friends? Spirits a-and…"

"Oh, for fuck's sake. Let me do it, then. Show you how to dispose of this kind of- AGH!"

Metal against flesh. A body hitting the ground. Blake opened her eyes and lowered her hands.

The girl moved so fast and gracefully it was hard to follow, sliding towards one of the humans along the ground, swinging her leg in a low kick. Her target tumbled down hard, face-first.

She stood, in the same motion raising her hand above her head. An object came flying to it, something golden, metallic. A shield? She grabbed it and bashed it against the last human's chest, sending him flying backwards to crash into a car and fall down, unconscious.

The girl nodded to herself and put her shield on her back. She turned towards Blake, the light of a distant fire reflecting on her crimson hair. Her eyes were deceptively kind for a girl who had just knocked out three grown men without breaking a sweat.

"Sorry about your friends. I would have stopped you and talked it out, but that blast you threw my way scared my superiors _a lot_ ," she said. "You're safe now, though. I promise," she offered a hand. "My name is Pyrrha Nikos, agent of Beacon."


	8. Chocolate milkshake

"And then I passed out from the pain. Pyrrha took me to safety, and from there… You know the story," Blake dragged her chair back. "Is that all? Am I free to go now?"

Ozpin took off his glasses and cleaned them with his shirt. "I must recapitulate, Miss Belladonna. While I've already heard Agent Nikos' account of the incident, thorough as it was, what I am interested in right now is what _you_ have to say."

Blake raised her arms indignantly. "Why? What's the point of all this?" She asked. "Are you trying to make me sympathize with you? To make me see you as a friend? Did you expect me to work with you to take down the White Fang? Is _that_ the reason because all of this?"

Ozpin put down his glasses and joined his hands together, staring at them intently. He could be deep in thought, but Blake doubted that. No, he was waiting to see what happened next, waiting for her to do something…

Her eyes darted to the door. He had left it unlocked when he entered the room, and since then, Blake hadn't heard nor seen anyone do anything about that. She could get up and leave. After that… she had escaped her fair share of dangerous places before. A Beacon operations facility, however, might be a tad out of her capacity.

"Blake."

Blake instinctively noticed something had changed about his voice. He had never been particularly warm or friendly before. She had never forgotten who he was. But now, as she looked at him, for the first time she saw not Ozpin, but only the Director of Beacon.

"You are not entirely wrong. We are having this conversation not because I need to hear the fifteenth angle on the Railway incident, or to gain some 'hidden' knowledge about the White Fang, but because I am interested in you," he said. "Why? Perhaps you'll find out, in time. It is my choice, after all, whether to share that with you. Remember the circumstances of your being here. Regardless of the tragedies of your past, regardless of being turned into a victim, regardless of being misled…" he paused. "You were not in the best company."

Blake lowered her head, unable to as much as look him in the eyes anymore. All her righteous anger had withered away, leaving her feeling small, in a cold, featureless room, sitting across from the world's most powerful law enforcer. Suddenly she realized, this was not just an interrogation.

This was her judgment.

* * *

She woke up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, fresh air and specks of sunlight filtering in through the shutters of a half-closed window. Carefully, Blake reached to touch her forehead and felt a bandage wrapped around it. Not hesitating for a moment, she ripped it off, then sat up and turned aside, about to leave the bed.

Before her feet touched the floor, the door of the room opened, and in came a redhead girl about her age, though she was noticeably taller. It took Blake a few moments to remember who she was, and when she finally did, her urge to leave became even more urgent.

"Hey, you're awake," Pyrrha Nikos said, closing the door behind her with the back of her foot. She was carrying a food tray in one hand, the other one holding a glass of water. "I don't know what you like, so I just grabbed some general stuff. If you want, I can get you something else."

Blake kept her mouth shut, eyeing the agent up and down several times. She couldn't spot a gun, or any kind of weapon for that matter, but that was barely any comfort. Judging from what she had witnessed last night, Blake was certain Pyrrha could defeat her with her hands tied behind her back.

Once she realized Blake wasn't going to reply, Pyrrha put the tray and the glass on the nightstand beside the bed. After that, she took a step back and looked at Blake, putting her hands on her hips.

"You remember me?" She asked. Blake nodded mutely. "Good. You recover fast," Pyrrha paused. "Can you tell me your name?"

"I would think you already know," Blake said. "You are Beacon, after all."

"Well, yes, but that doesn't mean we know who you are. We don't keep a list of everyone in the world… just the dangerous types," Pyrrha punctuated the phrase with a little smile. "If you don't feel like telling me, that's fine, but that won't ring well with my superiors, who will then be very interested in finding out," she blinked, her smile fading. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that as a threat. I just want things to go well for the both of us."

Blake's demeanor did not change, not for a second. Apologies, friendliness… She had to admit it was difficult to tell whether Pyrrha was being genuine or not, but she was not so foolish as to let her guard so easily.

Regardless of her true intentions, Pyrrha was offering her an olive branch, and in the position she was in, Blake had hardly anything to lose by taking it. She would go along with whatever Pyrrha wanted, until she found a better way out of this mess and back to…

…Back to Adam.

Blake looked at the window. It was morning, at the earliest. Adam had probably already reached his destination, wherever that was. He could be half the country away, for all she knew. And she was left all alone.

"Hello?" Pyrrha's voice tore her back from her thoughts. "Are you okay? Maybe you haven't recovered as well as I thought…"

"No. I'm fine," Blake said, turning to face her again. "My name's Blake. Blake Belladonna."

"It's nice to meet you, Blake!" Pyrrha said jovially. "Now, I don't wanna be aggravating, but you really should eat something…"

Blake shook her head slightly, then reached for the glass of water and took a sip. She glanced at the plate of food, but the sight just made her stomach turn. Later, she decided.

"So… not only did you survive the initial blast of your van – I'm sorry about that, by the way – but you also rolled down a twenty-meter fall, and all you have to show for it are a few bruises and cuts… or, to be precise, you _had_ ," Pyrrha said. "All I can assume is that you have Aura."

"I do," Blake replied quietly. Pyrrha knowing about Auras was not a big surprise, but it was a surprise nonetheless. "But it still hurt. A lot."

"Oh, I know," Pyrrha nodded. " _And_ … my memory is a little blurry, or, more likely, I didn't understand it very well… You did something strange last night, before I took care of your attackers. Could you explain?"

Blake blinked a few times, utterly lost… and then she winced, remembering that she had indeed used her Semblance during the assault. "It's… hard to explain," she said slowly. "I can create clones of myself. I-it's not anything… evil. It's called a…"

"A Semblance," Pyrrha interrupted, her voice filled with mirth. "That's what I thought."

Pyrrha's eyes swept the room, stopping to focus on a clock on the nightstand. She pointed a finger at it, and the object floated towards her. All on its own, the clock dismantled, the individual parts that fit together to make it work came to float above her hands.

Blake stared in awe for a moment, then looked up, meeting eyes with the Beacon agent, wanting to ask a hundred questions at once but not knowing how to begin a single one.

"I have one too," Pyrrha said, poking a floating tiny gear away, sending it spinning gently through the air. "I can control metal, or at least most kinds of it. Some materials are harder than others. It's a very useful skill. And, of course, I also have an Aura."

"That's… that's…" Blake shook her head, reminding herself of where she was and who she was talking to. "Wait. Does this put me on a list?"

"To be totally honest, yes. I can't lie about you, and they'd find out eventually anyway," Pyrrha answered. "Which is why you should cooperate the best you can. Please?"

Blake pondered the situation for a moment. Escaping was still a far shot, especially now that she knew how competent of a fighter Pyrrha was. "Alright," she said. "But can we take this somewhere else? This room is starting to feel very stuffy."

"Sure," Pyrrha clapped her hands, rebuilding the clock and laying it back down on the nightstand. "Let's go downstairs."

* * *

As it turned out, Pyrrha had rented a room above the local inn, which doubled as a roadside restaurant. There were few people on the ground floor, as expected from a town so into the desert, but Blake still flinched as she felt an uncomfortable number of eyes hone in on her, and more precisely, the ears atop her head. Chairs were dragged back, loud breaths drawn, fists clenched. The locals knew what had happened last night and who was involved.

"Let's grab a seat at the counter." Pyrrha said, her tone light even as she passed an arm around Blake's shoulders, meeting eyes with everyone in the restaurant in turn. Nobody said a word to them.

They sat side by side at the counter. A man on the other side – the owner, presumably – handed them two menus, then scurried away quickly.

"Ask whatever you'd like," Pyrrha said. "Lunch's on me."

"I would be cross if it weren't," Blake noted dryly, taking a quick glance at the menu. "I'll have fries."

"That's it?" Pyrrha blinked. "And so fast?"

"I can't remember the last time I had fries," Blake shrugged. "Must have been a few days before I could no longer afford to be away from home for any extended amount of time."

"Why's that?"

Blake shot an unbelieving glare at Pyrrha. The agent cleared her throat, her face going pale, and bowed her head to stare intently at the menu. Blake wondered what game she was playing now.

A couple minutes later, the owner came back and they placed their orders. He listened without saying a word back, but his face spoke volumes of how he felt about their presence.

"Well, Beacon's gonna have to do some damage control over here when this is all over," Pyrrha said after the owner left. "At least there was no propriety damage."

"Yes. How fortunate for you," Blake shook her head. "Well? Didn't you have questions?"

"Right," Pyrrha nodded, assuming a professional expression. "Are you with the White Fang?"

Blake scoffed. " _That's_ your first question?"

Pyrrha tapped her fingers against the counter, not breaking eye contact.

"Yes," Blake replied. "I am with the White Fang."

"For how long have you been with them?"

"Four years, give or take."

"Have you ever participated in any illegal activities in their name? Activities we could categorize as terrorism?"

"…Yes," Blake paused, measuring her words carefully. "I've been working towards destabilizing the Schnee Dust Company's presence on Vacuo for the past three years. But I've never harmed anyone in the process."

"Harm is a flexible term. But I believe you," Pyrrha said. "How old are you?"

Blake blinked, surprised by the new question, so different from the previous ones. "Fourteen."

"That'll help you," Pyrrha stated. "What was your objective last night? What's the White Fang planning to do with two hundred kilograms of Dust?"

Blake leaned back, as if Pyrrha had struck her physically with the question. An instant later, she realized that had been the agent's plan all along: lure her in with an inconsequential question, then go back in with what a hard one, causing a reaction which cut all possibilities of her answering untruthfully.

Nonetheless, Blake tried. She couldn't hand Adam over just like that. "We… were planning to blow up more of the SDC's mines. The few they had left, one by one. The last nail on their coffin."

"Blake," Pyrrha said. She looked at Blake the same way she had looked at the other people in the restaurant earlier. Now that she was on the receiving end of it, Blake understood why that stare had been so effective in shutting them down. "Tell me the truth."

Blake sunk in her seat. As if to save her, the owner arrived with their orders, pushing a plate of fries towards Blake and a chocolate milkshake towards Pyrrha. The redhead kept staring at her, even as she leaned down to sip from her straw. It only made her a bit less intimidating.

"The plan is to blow up the Schnee Railway."

"Blow up the…" Pyrrha's voice faltered. "How? I need exact details, Blake."

"I don't have the exact details," Blake answered forcefully. "I was carrying only a small fraction of the Dust we have for the job. The rest is with another group. My group was…"

"A decoy. Something to keep us from seeing the bigger picture. God, we didn't think you would try something so reckless," Pyrrha shook her head in disbelief. "Who's leading the other group? Where are they headed? How many people do they have?"

"I _don't know_ ," Blake responded, seething. "I wasn't given the details exactly because something like this might have happened. This… is all I have to…"

She stopped, her words catching up to her. This _was_ Adam's plan all along. She was a decoy, the only one likely to survive an intervention by Beacon and keep them distracted for as long as was needed.

Suddenly feeling sick in the stomach, Blake stood up and turned, marching towards the front door. She pressed her palm against it, but it refused to budge. She looked down, seeing that the only part of the door that wasn't glass was the knob, which was, of course, metal.

Blake spun around. Pyrrha had turned in her seat, pointing a glowing palm at the door. The people closest to them backed away, alarmed by the unnatural sight.

"Blake, sit down and talk to me. We can work this out, find a way to stop your friends before they do something incorrigible," Pyrrha said. "If you don't help, if you turn your back on this _now_ … You'll be crossing a line, and Beacon won't be able to ignore that any longer. You'll be just as bad as the rest of them."

Blake stepped forward, every other feeling instantly replaced by ire. "Just as bad?" She spat back. "How _dare_ _you_ speak of any of us like that? Like _we_ are the villains? All you people at Beacon do is sit by the side, watching tragedy after tragedy unfold, pretending to be _good_ … but you're just waiting for the moment to put us down for good!"

"Blake, you are being unreasonable," Pyrrha said, keeping her calm. "Please, just sit down and talk with-"

"No! You almost killed me!" Blake exclaimed. "You _killed_ the three men who were in that van with me!"

"I'm sorry. We did not mean for that to happen," Pyrrha looked down guiltily. "But, to be fair, you did shoot at me with a bazooka. Twice."

"You killed Joshua!"

Pyrrha looked up, blinking. "Excuse me?"

"Joshua Khan. The previous leader of the White Fang. The one whom you had an agreement with," Blake said, her voice becoming more subdued, though her anger was just as intense. "You set up a meeting with him to plan a stronger, joined effort towards equality… and then your agent killed him."

"That's… not true…" Pyrrha said uneasily, standing up. "I've never heard that before. You must be mistaken."

Blake clenched her fist, deciding they had done enough talking. Without warning, she dashed forward, swinging a punch at Pyrrha. The agent wasn't caught off-guard, immediately raising her arms to block the attack, only to gasp as the clone dissipated before her eyes.

While Pyrrha was distracted, Blake turned and ran out into the street. She didn't make it far before she heard footsteps behind her, then a noise of something sharp cutting through air. She bent her head instinctively and saw Pyrrha's shield soar past her, then come flying back directly towards her. Blake jumped, vaulting over the shield, then rolled on the ground to break her fall.

Pyrrha caught up with her, throwing a low kick at her. Blake took it on her left leg as she was in the process of standing up, and the blow was powerful enough to almost send her back down to the ground. Pyrrha didn't let up, closing in with a punch towards her head. Blake narrowly sidestepped that, only to feel a knee in her stomach, drawing her breath short.

"Is this enough?" Pyrrha asked. "I don't want to fight you."

"Too bad."

Blake threw an uppercut at her, which Pyrrha caught expertly, then twisted her arm a quarter of a circle. "Please?"

Blake grit her teeth, refusing to let up despite the pain. She had been dumb to take that approach. Pyrrha was clearly ten times the fighter she was. She couldn't defeat her in direct combat, so instead…

Blake kicked Pyrrha in the knee with all her strength, shaking just enough to slip from her grasp. As Pyrrha stepped forward to grab her, she left a clone in her place, then ran around the agent, summoning more and more until she had her completely surrounded.

"Really?" Pyrrha looked at the silent Blakes. "Is this how we're-"

She lurched forward, a kick at the back of her neck from the real Blake sending a wave of pain throughout her body. Not missing a beat, Blake grabbed her by the arm, spun her around, and shoved her back towards the restaurant.

Pyrrha collided violently against the glass door, shattering it and falling through inside the stablishment. Blake stared, for a moment feeling remorse for her actions, then turned and ran away before Pyrrha could get up to catch her.

* * *

She ran for a good while, nearly reaching the other side of town before she stopped to take shade in an alleyway. She had left several clones of herself behind to confounded Pyrrha, and evidently, that had worked, as the redhead was nowhere to be seen – or perhaps she hadn't chased her at all.

Now that the adrenaline from her escape was gone, her hunger was back, and more importantly, she realized how lost she was, in every sense of the word. Blake didn't have an inkling of where in Vacuo she was, and neither did she know where to go next.

But it wasn't just a question of _where_. Her mind was overloaded with questions, the same doubts she had been nurturing for the past three years. She realized how careless she had been to bottle all that up, as it exploded right when she was at the most vulnerable – hurt, famished, and alone.

It was easy to ignore all the problems in the world while she was lying her bed, reading her books, living with Ilia… And now…

She sat down in the shade and thought.

The White Fang. It had been a good home. Had been.

Sienna. Blake hadn't seen her for three years. She couldn't remember her face. The one she imagined was not a kind one.

Joshua. She missed him.

Beacon. Mixed messages. Nothing was certain about them. Pyrrha had seemed like a good person, but so had the agents Blake had met before Joshua's death.

The missions. So important she had put her life at risk time and time again for them. And what had changed? What good had she brought to the world?

And Adam.

 _Adam_.

* * *

"Excuse me! You stop right now, you-"

"Don't worry," Blake raised a hand, stopping the stranger lady on the street from coming any closer to her. "I'll give it back in a minute."

She tapped on the cellphone slowly, trying to remember Adam's number, reserved only for emergencies. It was improbable he would even get the call, being in the desert, but hopefully he was near the Railway, which had reception for most of its length.

"I'm going to get in trouble for this, aren't I?" The stranger asked nervously. Blake put a finger on her lips and shushed her.

Seconds passed by like hours. The cellphone beeped and beeped and beeped. Her heart fell…

" _Who the hell is this?_ "

"Adam!" Blake exclaimed, smiling despite herself. She stepped away quickly, but still kept in sight of the stranger to prevent her from panicking and calling for help. "It's Blake."

" _Blake? I thought- I tried to contact you on the radio, but you didn't respond. What happened?_ "

"Beacon caught up to us. The van was wrecked, exploded with the Dust… the others died in the blast." Blake said, growing somber.

" _Shit_ ," Adam didn't say anything for a while. " _I'm relieved you're alive, though. I was getting worried. Where are you?_ "

"I'm not sure. They got us soon after we parted ways," Blake replied. "Let me worry about that. Tell me the meeting point and I'll get there as fast as I can."

" _Are you sure? It's probably safer if you head back home_ ," Adam said. " _Besides, we have enough people here. You don't have to put yourself in danger anymore. You did your part._ "

Right. Her part. For a moment, she considered asking exactly what that meant, but she already knew the answer.

"Adam, I've already come this far," she said resolutely. "Just tell me and I'll be there."

He didn't answer. Blake waited. She took the phone off her ear and looked at the screen. The call hadn't dropped. It was just silence.

"Adam?"

Her fist trembled at her side. This was not happening. He couldn't really-

" _Fine, you stubborn pest. You know you should have been born a mule faunus, right?_ " Adam replied finally. " _The rendezvous point is between stations 4F and 5A. Sienna sent some people to help us, they'll be arriving tomorrow afternoon at the latest. You have until then to join us_."

"Okay. I'll try my hardest," Blake said. She went to end the call, then stopped and held the phone up to her ear again. "Adam?"

" _Yes?_ "

"Was it really Beacon who killed Joshua?"

A minute passed. Silence. Blake looked at the phone.

Adam had hung up.

* * *

Blake stepped through the doorway of the restaurant, careful not to step on any shards of glass which had been missed during clean-up. She looked at the counter, and as she had hoped, found Pyrrha sitting there, drinking a chocolate milkshake from a straw.

"You came back." Pyrrha said.

"Yes," Blake frowned, looking around. "How did you know?"

"I felt the vibrations of the earth and sensed you stepping closer," the redhead paused. "Just kidding. I can see your reflection in my glass."

Blake sat beside her. For someone who had been thrown through a glass door, Pyrrha looked oddly relaxed.

"Is that the same milkshake from before?" Blake asked.

"No," Pyrrha smiled guiltily. "It's my fourth one, actually."

"You must really like chocolate milkshakes." Blake noted.

"Yes. It's like you and fries, I suppose," Pyrrha said. "I can't remember the last time I had one."

"But you're a Beacon agent. Aren't you free to go anywhere and do whatever you want?"

"Partly. I _could_ drink a chocolate milkshake whenever I wanted, but that wouldn't be a good decision. The difference is that _now_ …" Pyrrha drank the last of the milkshake. "…only you are here to watch."

Blake didn't understand, but she could see that something about that statement rang very true to Pyrrha Nikos, agent of Beacon. Perhaps she could ask her to explain better later. Right now, however, they had more important things to discuss.

"I know where the White Fang is going to put their plan into action," Blake said. "I'll tell you if you take me there."

"I'm glad you changed your mind," Pyrrha smiled. "Where is it?"

"Wait. There's one condition," Blake interjected. "You can't tell Beacon until we're there."

"I don't see how that's a reasonable request. The sooner Beacon is at the scene, the better," Pyrrha said. "There could be people inside that train. There probably _will_ be people. What you're asking for would put them at severe risk."

"I know. But…" Blake breathed deeply. "The person who's leading the assault – Adam – is very important to me. I don't want him to be punished without first being given a chance to redeem himself. The same applies to everyone else there. You gave me a chance, so…"

"You were one person, and you were not trying to blow up a high-tech, two hundred kilometers per hour train," Pyrrha noted. "Just imagine how much trouble I would get in if things went wrong."

"Well," Blake shrugged. "You did say only I was watching, so… You can always lie and say I didn't give up the information until it was too late."

"That's horribly irresponsible," Pyrrha sighed, using her straw to mix the foamy remains of her milkshake at the bottom of the glass. "Say I agree… What's stopping me from calling Beacon as soon as you tell me the location?"

"Your integrity, I suppose?" Blake raised her hands helplessly. "Yeah, my arguments are weak. I'm being disgustingly selfish right now. But you have trusted me so far, Pyrrha, when you've had no reason to," she paused. "Please don't stop now."

Pyrrha looked up at the ceiling. Poked her empty glass. Gestured for another milkshake. Rubbed her forehead. And, at last, gave Blake a look that said something like ' _I'm probably throwing my career away, but…_ '.

"Fine. We'll do it your way."

Blake sighed in relief. She was more than hoping that Pyrrha would agree with her, but she was ready to give her the location anyway if she didn't. She cared about giving Adam, but not so much that she would let innocent people get in certain danger because of him.

"Now, about those fries," Pyrrha said. "Still want them?"

Blake's stomach rumbled. "Actually… I think I'll have a chocolate milkshake."

* * *


	9. From Shadows

Night was falling. There was a sweet fragrance in the air. It was a peaceful moment, one that should have felt off after the day she had had, but Blake found it rather fitting instead. The calm before the storm, as is said.

She idled around for a bit until Pyrrha exited the restaurant-inn, having changed from her standard Beacon uniform to another set of clothes – a steel-reinforced strapless brown top, skintight shorts, greaves that ran almost all the way up to her thighs, and a single bracer on her left wrist. She looked like a gladiator of old. Blake suddenly understood why people used to cheer for senseless, glorified death battles, if _this_ was the sight they got.

She kept that thought to herself, of course.

Pyrrha stretched her arms above her head, leaning sideways a little. "Excuse me. It's been a while since I wore this," she said. "I even had to expand it a little."

"What _is_ it, actually?" Blake asked. "It looks very uncomfortable."

"Well, it is heavy, but my Semblance helps me deal with that. It's the reason I wear it anyway – the armor lets me get very creative in combat situations," Pyrrha explained. "Plus, it's good protection."

"Yes, I can see that, with all the exposed skin…" Blake noted dubiously.

Pyrrha tilted her head a little. "You think it's too much? Maybe I _should_ expand it a little more…"

"No, no, it's fine. We don't have time for that!" Blake objected, turning away hastily. "Let's get going. We have less than a day to get there."

Pyrrha nodded, stepping over to her motorcycle, which she had left parked in front of the restaurant. Nobody had dared lay a finger on it. She turned on the engine, took out her shield from her back and attached it to the front of the vehicle, then hopped on.

Blake walked to her, staring at the motorcycle, clueless as to what to do next. After a few moments, Pyrrha turned to look at her. "What?"

"I've never ridden on a motorcycle before." Blake said sheepishly.

"Oh, don't worry, it's easy!" Pyrrha smiled. "You just sit behind me, take a hold of my hips, and let me do the all heavy work. Or you can wrap your arms around me, if you prefer."

"Wrap your arms around you…" Blake repeated slowly, dearly hoping the burning sensation on her face was not showing physically. "You mean like…"

"Like a hug! Except I won't be hugging you back, I suppose," Pyrrha shrugged. "Maybe later."

Blake took a deep breath, then followed Pyrrha's instructions, choosing the slightly less awkward option of laying her hands on her hips. She was very glad Pyrrha had her back turned to her – there was no way her face hadn't turned red now.

"If you ever get scared, just press yourself closer and you'll feel better." Pyrrha advised, her tone still perfectly innocent somehow. She had to be using her Beacon training and playing a big joke on her.

"O-okay," Blake said. "I take it I'm not the first person you've done this with."

"Yeah. I have to drive civilians around sometimes during missions. They're usually little kids, though, or boys," Pyrrha sighed. "Ugh. Take it from me, boys are just the worst. No respect for personal space, you know?"

"Y-yeah," Blake loosened her hold a bit. "Boys, am I right?!"

"Anyway. I'll start slow, then pick up speed gradually so you get used to it," Pyrrha said. "Just don't forget what to do if you get scared."

"Y-yes…"

Or maybe Pyrrha was just really, really oblivious…

* * *

The ride was not as uncomfortable as Blake had first thought. After getting used to holding onto Pyrrha, there was little awkwardness to be found. It helped that the agent didn't seem to mind at all. Of course, there were some new feelings and a couple of revelations creeping up on Blake because of the whole ordeal, but she could leave those for later. Right now, there were more important things to worry about.

Not that there was much to be thought that wasn't just a repetition of older times. Blake had spent years pondering about her actions with the White Fang and before, having regrets, devising excuses, hoping for things to get better… At last, the time for thinking was coming to a close, and she would have to come to a decision.

There was little to be done about it before that fateful moment. She would know what to do then, and only then. For now, she had to take a step back and let herself become prepared.

"Pyrrha," she said after a while, as they took a turn on the highway that would lead them to the Schnee Railway. "Do you mind if I ask some personal questions?"

"You've answered my questions," Pyrrha replied calmly. "Go ahead."

"How old are you?" Blake asked. "And how long have you been with Beacon?"

"I'm turning fifteen next month," Pyrrha answered. "And I've been with Beacon since… It's a bit tough to remember, actually…" She mulled over the question for a while. "I _think_ I was seven years old. Or six."

Blake blinked, taken aback by the answer. "Is it usual for Beacon to recruit people so young?"

"No. I was an exception."

Blake shook her head. She could only imagine how being taken in by Beacon at such a young age must have been like. It couldn't be worse than what she had gone through, but…

"My father used to be an agent. Nowadays, he's more like a consultant, not deployed on active duty. He had a pretty bad accident, but he's better now," Pyrrha said. "He introduced me to Director Ozpin when I unlocked my Semblance. The Director took me under his wing and trained me to be one of his agents."

"As a kid." Blake noted. She couldn't help but feel disturbed by what she was hearing.

"Oh, it wasn't anything bad. Director Ozpin is the best man I've ever known. He's like a second father to me. And they didn't force me or anything, it was a choice," Pyrrha's voice grew a bit quieter. "Maybe a choice I was too young to make, but a choice nonetheless."

"Do you _like_ working for Beacon?"

"I love it. Helping people, fighting injustice… keeping evil at bay…" Pyrrha paused. "It gets lonely sometimes, of course. I don't have colleagues my age, and the ones that wouldn't mind it… Apparently, I am very intimidating."

"Speaking as someone who was interrogated by you, yes, you can be very intimidating. Not when you are having a chocolate milkshake, though," Blake said. "Maybe you should try doing that around those people."

"Hah. Thanks, Blake," Pyrrha grinned. "But I'm on a diet."

Blake frowned. Well that was a deceptively simple answer for a question she had been saving for some hours now. Or maybe it was a clever misdirection. Trained by the Director of Beacon himself…

"Would you mind answering one last question of mine?" Pyrrha asked.

"Ask."

"What's Adam to you? A brother? Father? Boyfriend?"

"No. None of that," Blake paused. Everything would be much easier if the answer was so obvious. "He's Adam. It's complicated."

"Okay. Clearly, he is very special to you," Pyrrha nodded. "What are you going to do if he doesn't cooperate?"

Blake didn't answer that. Once more, she didn't know how to.

They traveled in silence for a while. Blake felt her eyelids start to get heavy, so she shook her head and edged a bit closer to Pyrrha.

"If you're tired, you can sleep against me," Pyrrha said. "I'll make sure you don't fall."

"Thanks," Blake mumbled, leaning on Pyrrha. She turned her head and laid it on the agent's shoulder. "4F to 5A. They're waiting somewhere between these stations."

"Okay. I'll wake you up when we get close."

"Don't call Beacon."

"I promise I won't."

* * *

"Blake. Wake up."

She opened her eyes, only to shut them immediately as the morning sunlight struck them. She began to fall to the side, and her heart rose to her throat, beating rapidly. Just before she would be completely off the motorcycle, a firm hand grasped her arm and pulled her to her feet.

Blake bowed her head, opening her eyes tentatively. They didn't burn anymore. Pyrrha let go of her and patted her on the shoulder.

"Did I sleep through the whole night?" Blake asked. "You should have woken me up."

"You needed the rest," Pyrrha said, her tone of voice leaving no room for argument. "We're five minutes from station 4F. From there, it's fifteen minutes to station 5A. Where do you suppose Adam is waiting?"

Blake looked around. They were standing a safe distance away from the Schnee Railway, which faded from sight when she looked northward. To the south was 5A, a couple of buildings with a boarding area between them.

The terrain here was much nicer than what Blake had grown used to, with the desert giving way to patches of lush green. She caught the scent of a lake, somewhere she couldn't see, but it was near. Looking past 4F, she spotted a gathering of palm trees by the side of the railway

"There, probably," Blake said, pointing at that spot. "It's a secluded spot, good for hiding a few dozen people. If they aren't there, then I'll just have to keep searching further along the railway."

"You? Don't you mean we?" Pyrrha asked, cocking her hip.

"Can you imagine how they would react if I showed up with a Beacon agent in tow?" Blake shook her head. "Let me talk to Adam first. Then, when it's safe, you can come in."

"Hmm. I suppose you are right," Pyrrha said. "Actually, I might take the opportunity to go down to the station and warn the authorities there. They should be aware of the potential danger."

"Good, you do that."

Pyrrha went back to her motorcycle and opened a compartment on its side, where she fished for something. After a while, she came back to Blake, offering her a small device similar to an earphone.

"Take this so we can keep track of each other," she said. "Just press a finger on its center and talk, I'll be able to hear you."

Blake put the device on. "Hopefully it's not easy to see."

"It would be pretty bad design otherwise," Pyrrha noted. "And here. Take this too."

She offered her a pistol. Blake looked at it critically, pursing her lips.

"The choice to use it is yours, but I won't let you go without it," Pyrrha said. "Take it, or I'll be forced to do what I should have done from the very start and arrest you."

Blake breathed in deeply, then took the gun. Pyrrha nodded.

"Alright. I called Beacon before I woke you up. They should be here in two hours at most, so make good use of that time," Pyrrha said. "I'll be going now. Good luck, Blake."

Before Blake could wish her the same, Pyrrha climbed on her motorcycle and left, keeping at a moderate speed so as to not draw too much attention.

Blake closed her eyes, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. She hid the pistol on the back of her pants and covered it with her shirt. And then, focused on what was to come, she started walking.

* * *

The scent of water grew stronger as she got closer to her destination. By the time she crossed the space between the first trees, it was impossible to ignore. It wasn't particularly pleasant, but it wasn't bad either. It was a scent she wasn't accustomed to.

It didn't take long for her advance to be barred. Two faunus appeared before her, seemingly materializing from thin air. Blake wasn't startled. She assumed they were merely chameleon faunus, both very versed in how to make the most use of their heritage.

"Turn back," one of them said. "This is no place for a little girl."

"This little girl has an appointment with your leader," Blake replied immediately, raising her chin. "Don't bother me."

She took a step forward, and they mirrored her, now standing directly in her way. Blake rolled her eyes and strut past them, leaving a clone in her wake. They were none the wiser to her trickery.

A couple minutes later, she broke into a clearing. The lake was in the middle of it, and she was underwhelmed by how small it looked. Faunus were scattered throughout it, talking in small voices, holding guns restlessly in their hands.

She saw Adam at the same time he saw her.

"Blake," he said when she stopped before him, looking her up and down. "You're… actually here."

"I told you I would make it," she said. "And by the looks of it, I'm early."

"Yes, you are…" Adam crossed his arms. "How?"

"I stole a car and learned how to drive," Blake smirked. "Learned that move from you."

Adam didn't reply in kind. That silence wasn't the kind that often occurred when they were together. There was no familiarity in it, no mutual understanding that there was nothing needed to be said.

He didn't trust her, and she supposed that was only fair. She didn't trust him, either.

" _There's a lot people waiting for the train_ ," Pyrrha's voice buzzed in her ear. " _I'll go looking for someone from the local staff now. I'll keep you posted. Contact me when you can._ "

Blake tilted her head a little, trying to keep her face straight as she payed attention to the sounds from the earpiece. Adam was still staring at her, but as far as she could tell, he hadn't noticed anything unusual.

"So, what's the plan?" She asked. "Are we still waiting for Sienna's people?"

"Yes. They shouldn't be long," Adam said. "When they get here, we'll board the train the next time it passes."

"From the station?"

"No. From here," Adam raised a hand, anticipating her question. "We have a plan to stop it early after it leaves 4F. We'll board it from here."

Blake curled her fists, her patience running thin. She tried to control herself, knowing that an outburst would only make him more suspicious of her, but the way he was looking at her, as if he wished she wasn't there… As if she was just an inconvenience…

"Stop giving me half-answers," she demanded suddenly. "I almost died, and still I made it all the way here when I could have just as well gone back home to be safe again. Remember, I wanted to stop doing these missions, but _you_ convinced me otherwise. I think I deserve to know the plan!"

"Well, you can think anything you want!" Adam exclaimed. "I didn't force you to come here, just as I didn't force you to go on this mission. Stop blaming _me_ for _your_ choices!"

Blake stepped back, tensing up. From the corners of her eyes, she saw the other faunus looking at them, whispering. They looked surprised, if not a bit afraid.

She frowned, realizing how fast their conversation had escalated. It had taken so little for her to be willing to raise her voice at him, and his rebuttal had been just as sudden.

When had their relationship soured so much? She had missed it, it seemed. Had he?

Adam stepped closer to her, lowering his voice. "I'm in charge here. Only I know the full details of the plans," he said. "You don't deserve anything more than anyone else here. You are _not_ special, Blake. It's time you grow up and accept that reality."

Blake opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She remembered having a lot of questions to ask, but they seemed to have evaporated all of a sudden. All she could do was lower her head and bite her lip.

"Hey, boss!" Someone called out. "You need to hear this."

Adam gave her one last glance, then walked away. Blake withered under the stares she was receiving and went to sit on a rock, as far away from the rest of the group as possible.

" _I just talked to the man in charge. He's been warned about the White Fang_ ," Pyrrha buzzed in a few minutes later. " _How are things on your end?_ "

Blake looked around, then carefully reached up to touch the earpiece. "I don't know," she mumbled. "Wait a little."

" _We can't risk waiting too long. If you can't change Adam's mind soon, warn me and I'll get to action_."

"Understood."

" _Are you safe_?"

"Give me time."

Blake put her hand down in a haste, seeing Adam return to the shore of the lake, where he could address the group.

"Everyone, there's been a change of plans," he announced. "We are boarding at first opportunity. Forget Sienna's people. We just got word that there's a Beacon agent sniffing around. It's only a matter of time before she finds us."

"What, it's one agent?" Someone asked. "And a woman? We can take her!"

"She was dressed like a damn gladiator," Adam stated, his voice full of contempt. " _You_ can fight her if you like."

"Uuh… pass."

Adam shook his head, walking towards Blake casually. She got up, preparing herself.

"Alright, Blake," he said, unusually softly. "You can come with us, or you can stay here. Nobody will judge."

Blake looked up at him, surprised. "What are you saying? Didn't you just call me a child?"

"Well, yes, I did," he shrugged. "But that was before I was sure you were betraying all of us, which is a pretty adult thing to do."

She didn't see the blow coming, and so had no time to brace herself. Blake fell to her knees, the edges of her vision darkening. Adam crouched in front of her, his right arm glowing red.

"Actually," he said. "I'll make the choice for you."

"Adam, don't-"

* * *

_Take this and go buy yourself some ice cream. Mommy and daddy will be right behind you._

* * *

She slammed against a wall, the impact waking her rudely. Blake rushed forward instinctively, swinging her hand like a claw towards the man's face, but he grabbed her by the throat and pressed her against the window.

Vibration. The floor trembling beneath her feet. The countryside passing by like a blur.

She was on the train.

Unable to turn her head, Blake scanned her surroundings intently. She saw scared faces, faunus and humans alike pressed to their seats, not one of them making a sound. Clusters of Dust explosives were attached to the ceiling and the walls, the digital displays that should countdown to explosion showing four zeroes – ready to go off on command.

"Blake! You are awake."

She turned her gaze to the right. The doorway between her wagon and the next had opened, and Adam had walked through with a grin on his face. Her eyes widened as she spotted something on his back – but it couldn't be a…

"To be honest, I was kind of hoping you wouldn't wake up until this mess was over," Adam stopped beside her. "Now I'm forced to deal with the reality of what you have done. You betrayed the White Fang, Blake. I can't pretend everything's okay. You understand me, right?"

Blake opened her mouth, but the hand on her throat made it impossible for her to speak. Adam glared at his subordinate, and the man released her and stepped away, but not so far that he couldn't grab her again if needed.

"Adam… what the hell are you thinking…" She said, slowly regaining her voice. "There are people here. Innocent people."

"They work for the SDC," Adam pointed out. "They are hardly innocent."

"No. Adam, no!" Blake shook her head. "Even the faunus? Aren't they the point of everything we do?"

"Sacrifices are necessary," Adam said. "If the humans are to take our message seriously, we must show them we do not compromise. We will do whatever we must to make a better world for the faunus, even if that means harming our own."

With every word he said, her heart sunk deeper into despair, the world becoming dull around her. His voice rang endlessly in her ears. She shivered, coldness seeping through her skin. Her breath ran short, as all of a sudden she felt a crippling claustrophobia.

Glass walls all around, once again, as always. The walls that were always there. The walls she now realized she had never left. She couldn't pretend they didn't exist anymore.

He brushed a finger against her cheek. "I _don't_ want to lose you, Blake," he said. His voice was muffled to her. "Please stop. Don't force me to get rid of you."

She bowed her head, fighting off the urge to cry. It had been too long since the last time she had allowed herself to do that. If she let go right now, there was no coming back. She knew that, and even so, the tears kept coming.

"Alright. Take her to the back of the train and keep her there until I can talk to her. And be careful with how you handle her. She's more resourceful than she looks."

Blake felt herself being pushed forward, then hands being laid on her shoulders from behind, fingers pressing herself against her skin so forcefully it almost hurt. She didn't say anything, nor did she raise her head, and when she was shoved forward, Blake walked ahead in obedient silence.

* * *

_Glass walls_

* * *

They crossed into a new wagon, identical to the other. She vaguely registered the sight of even more Dust bombs scattered throughout it.

* * *

_She kicked the doctor's head and heard something snap_

* * *

On the next wagon after that, they were met by two other White Fang members, who quickly stepped aside to let them pass. Their eyes had no mercy upon her.

* * *

_Red red red red_

* * *

She tripped. The man grabbed her by the arms and yanked her back up.

* * *

_You are not special_

* * *

As she was brought up, her eyes met with a little girl's, sitting on the right-side bench, her hand clutching her mother's.

* * *

_Happy birthday_

* * *

She had a pair of cat ears poking out of her hair.

* * *

Blake planted her right foot on the floor and spun around, breaking out of her escort's hold. He stumbled back and cursed loudly, then launched forward to grab her again. She jumped away from his reach and took out her hidden gun.

In such a closed space, the gunshot noise was even worse than usual, but she didn't flinch at all. The man collapsed to the floor, clutching his bleeding thigh. Blake lowered the smoking pistol and looked around.

"Don't be afraid," she said, addressing not only the people around her, but herself. "You'll get through this. I'll make sure of it."

From the direction she had come from, the door to the next wagon opened, and White Fang faunus, a man and a woman stepped through, no doubt having been startled by the gunshot. When they saw her standing over one of their colleagues, they shared a knowing glance, and the man turned and sprinted back.

"You're dead, bitch!" The woman yelled, running straight at her, fist raised. Blake dropped the gun, not wanting to risk making a fatal mistake and getting a bystander injured or worse.

She jumped at the woman, meeting her halfway, and managed to wrap her legs around her torso. They went down together, her foe taking the brunt of the fall on her head and going unconscious.

Blake jumped to her feet and was immediately met with the sight of three more White Fang entering the wagon. She shook her head, knowing better than to take on three people at once, and turned around. When she did, however, she realized that two other faunus had arrived from the back of the train, having also heard the earlier commotion.

"Listen," she said, raising her hands in a sign of peace. "You have to see how wrong this is. Adam is telling you to kill innocent people – innocent _faunus_ \- and you're going along with it. You have to realize what that means and help me stop him."

"We know what's going on," one of them said. "And we're proud to carry out the job."

They charged at her all at once. Thinking fast, Blake left a clone of herself where she was and threw herself to the ground, rolling past the faunus. As they realized what had happened, Blake jumped to her feet and made for the next wagon.

Just as she was about to reach the door, the Dust on the walls and ceiling glowed for a brief moment, then a shrill noise echoed throughout the train. Suddenly, all the lights went off, and the doors slammed shut.

Slowly, Blake turned around. She was now trapped with five angry White Fang members who had her penned as a traitor, and a bunch of civilians she couldn't risk harming. She wasn't that good of a fighter to win that engagement, and in such a small space, there was only so much she could do with her Semblance.

She raised her hands again, swallowing dry. "Alright. I give up," she said. "I won't fight anymore. Just take me to Adam."

"Don't think that's gonna happen, scamp," one of the faunus bent down and took her pistol from the floor, then aimed it at her. "No mercy for traitors. Now stand still, freak, and let me unload-"

He was interrupted by the sound of metal being ripped apart, so deafeningly loud Blake had to turn away and press her ears to her head. Whatever was happening, it was happening very close to her position.

Suddenly, the disembark doors tore away and went rolling by the side of the railway until it broke into pieces. Air came rushing inside, knocking everyone down as if they were in a tornado. Blake braced herself against the floor and looked at the hole in the wall.

A familiar crimson and golden blur came speeding by, barely keeping up with the train. Blake remained frozen where she was, unbelieving of what she was seeing. In the corner of her vision, she saw one of her foes begin to stand up. Throwing away all her fear and doubt, she got up, ran, and jumped from the train.

She reached out with her hand, almost missing Pyrrha's. The motorcycle leaned terrifyingly close to the ground for a couple seconds, before righting itself neatly. Blake let herself be dragged up, then plopped down behind Pyrrha and wrapped her arms around her.

With her heart still going twice as fast as the train, Blake could only find one thing to say. "Holy shit."

"Just in time?" Pyrrha said.

A bullet flew above their heads. Pyrrha took one hand off the handlebars and grabbed her shield, then threw it at the train. It collided against their shooter, knocking him down and sending the pistol flying away outside, then flew right back to Pyrrha. She secured it back on its spot at the front of the motorcycle.

"How come you knew I needed saving?" Blake asked, regaining her composure.

"I was looking through the windows and saw you," Pyrrha replied quickly, as if she didn't find the matter of any importance. "They had someone planted as a manager on the station, to look the other way when the train didn't stop there."

"And the conductor?" Blake asked. "White Fang too?"

"That's my guess," Pyrrha said. "I'm assuming you didn't convince Adam?"

"Yes," Blake shook her head. "He's too far gone."

"In that case…" Pyrrha cranked her neck. "Tell me what happened in there."

"They've got the train filled with Dust bombs. They activated them, but since I'm still in one piece, as well as everyone inside…" Blake frowned. "I think they disabled everything electrical on the train."

"Yellow Dust. Of course," Pyrrha said. "That means only the people inside the train can control it. No outside interference from the SDC or Beacon. If Adam is still going forward with blowing up the train, we'll have to stop that personally."

Blake nodded. She was certain that whatever way the day had gone, they would have ended up having to settle things personally.

"Hold on tight. I'm speeding close to the front."

"You can go _faster_?"

Pyrrha's answer was rather clear as they took a burst of speed, now going faster than the train, which Blake had to reminded herself had been built to provide swift transport across an entire continent. She pressed her face against Pyrrha's back, protecting it from the harsh wind.

They pulled up to the third wagon from the front, falling to a less extreme speed to accompany it. "Alright, I'm going to jump to the top of the train," Pyrrha said. "No matter what happens, _don't let go_."

Blake grabbed Pyrrha by her arms, putting all her strength in that grip. She knew that, with her Aura, Pyrrha wouldn't feel any pain.

All at once, Pyrrha let go of the motorcycle and jumped off, boosting herself against it before it fell down and was left behind. She soared through the air, almost colliding against the train, but landed at the top, her boots sticking to it powerfully. Blake continued to hold on with all her might, very aware that one moment of weakness could lead to her flying off the train, which, Aura or not, would not be a good experience.

Not a moment after her landing, Pyrrha clapped her hands together, then slowly separated them. The roof of the train mirrored her movement, the metal ripping apart until a big hole was left in it. Pyrrha dropped in.

They landed in the middle of the wagon, surrounded by two small White Fang groups – five on Pyrrha's side, two on Blake's. Almost all the seats were taken by terrified passengers. A gunshot rang.

The smoking bullet bounced to the ceiling before landing in front of Blake's feet. Pyrrha lowered her shield. "Can you handle yours?"

Blake didn't bother with a response, dashing to the White Fang nearest to her. She sent a clone of herself running forward, then slid on the floor, kicking her enemy in the ankle while he was distracted. He fell to the floor, hitting his head on a pole along the way.

She got up and closed in on the next, aiming a punch at his head. The faunus sidestepped easily and grabbed her by the elbows, then kneed her on the small of her back. Blake grit her teeth and jumped, slamming the back of her foot on his stomach. Out of breath, he stumbled back, until she turned around and punched again, this time landing the hit directly and knocking him out.

Blake shook her aching hand distractedly and looked up, only to see Pyrrha had already dealt with her opponents and was now looking at the Dust on the walls. Blake's blood ran cold when she noticed the countdown, which had previously been inactive, was now on fifteen minutes and ticking down.

"Crap," she said, stepping up to Pyrrha. "What do we do?"

"I know how to disarm these, but there's no time to do all of them," Pyrrha said, maintaining calm. "At least half of them are going off, that's for sure. Our priority, then, is to save everyone… which means clearing a safe space," she nodded. "We get everyone to the front of the train and disable the bombs. Then we separate the wagons."

"We can do that?" Blake asked.

"Hopefully. The systems might be disabled, but there should be some way to do it manually," Pyrrha said. "You figure that out. I'll work my way to the back of the train and send the civilians to the front."

Pyrrha pointed a hand to the doors leading to the front and opened them with her Semblance, then turned to the back and did the same. She gave Blake a reassuring nod, then walked away, shield ready.

Blake bowed her head and took a deep breath, then looked around at the passengers. "Alright. You heard her," she said. "Safety's up front. Stay with me for now and I'll protect you."

For a moment, the passengers shared hushed whispers and threw suspicious glances at her ears. Blake was about to walk away and leave them to do as they wished, when finally, they started getting up. Despite the situation, she found herself almost smiling.

"Stay close."

She went into the next wagon. Two more White Fang members tried to intercept her, but she dealt with them quickly. There were less passengers there. They joined wordlessly.

Blake stopped before the last door, knowing who was waiting there. "Everyone. To the walls."

The passengers obeyed her, clearing the middle of the wagon. Steeling herself, Blake stepped through the doorway.

* * *

Adam was on the conductor's seat, his feet up on the control panel and hands joined in his lap. But with the only light in the cabin coming through the front windows, leaving all but him in the dark, he looked all but relaxed. He looked almost… sinister.

"Blake," he said. "I should have known better than to expect you to settle down. You see, that's what made us such great partners. We never back down from getting what we want, so when our minds were aligned…"

He sighed and stood from his chair. He bent down and reached for something under the panel, then turned, holding a sheathed sword in his hands.

"We were a recipe for disaster, you and I."

Blake stepped out of the shadows, standing right in front of him to look him in the eye. "You can still stop this."

"No. Even if I wanted to, there's no stopping anymore. The bombs are ticking…" Adam shrugged. "And I _don't_ want to stop," he tilted his head. "I thought this is what you wanted? To make a difference? A _real_ difference?"

"Not this way. I don't want to drag humanity down to what we've had to suffer. I don't want to rise above them. Yes, there are a lot of bad humans out there… but I'd say most of them are good. I want us to be able to live together, like… like people," Blake said. "And now you'll tell me that's just a pipe dream."

Adam smiled. "That's another reason we worked well together. We always knew what the other was thinking…"

"No, we didn't," Blake said. "Because you lied to me."

She threw a punch, connecting squarely on his cheek. Adam shook it off, unsheathed his sword – a katana that ran almost as long as she was tall – and swung it at her neck.

The clone dissolved. Blake tapped him in the shoulder. "It's over."

She kicked him in the back, sending him stumbling forward, and followed after him to keep the advantage. Adam swung the katana horizontally, forcing her to duck and lose speed. He brought the sword back, slamming its pommel on the side of her skull.

The impact sent her reeling back until she hit the small of her back against the control panel. Her torso flared with pain. Her vision clouded, but she could still see enough to dodge his next swing. The blade lodged into the panel, sending sparks flying throughout the cabin.

Seeing an opportunity, Blake tossed all strategy aside and threw herself at him, laying punch after punch on him while he recovered the sword. Her fists collided against his Aura, and though she felt it weaken gradually, it still protected him from serious injury.

"Oh, Blake," Adam said. "You should know better."

Without warning, he turned around and brought up his sword, blade glowing bright red. Blake's eyes widened.

"A gift from Sienna."

He swung down, unleashing his Semblance in the form of a vertical slash. Blake threw herself to the side, barely avoiding the projectile. It hit the wall and cut into it, disintegrating centimeters of steel before fading. If she hadn't dodged…

Blake looked back at Adam. He was breathing hard and clutching his sword so hard his fingers were turning white. A shiver ran down her back as Blake realized that he truly wasn't holding back anymore.

She stood frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do. She couldn't attack him, as that would only empower him. What else was left?

"Well?" Adam spoke, his voice hoarse. "What's it gonna be, Blake? Can you see, finally, that you need me? That you are _nothing_ without-"

Blake turned around and ran. After a moment, she heard him chasing after her.

"Running again?!" He shouted. "When are you going to stop, Blake?! For all your talk, you can't seem to stand up for yourself!"

"Shut up!" She yelled, turning away just briefly enough to kick him in the knee and knock him to the side.

Blake turned and ran away, going into the second wagon. The passengers all yelled in surprise, then in fright when Adam passed by, swinging his sword. Blake ignored them, putting even more fervor into her running.

On the third wagon, Blake almost collided against Pyrrha as she led the passengers from the rest of the train. "Blake? What's-"

"I'll deal with it!" She yelled. "The bombs!"

Blake didn't stop running, going deeper and deeper into the train. She was almost at the sixth wagon when she felt a hand close around her ankle and fell down hard.

She rolled on her back, just in time to see Adam, also on the floor, going for her throat. She left a clone and crawled back frantically, then stood. "You're insane, Adam!"

He got up and swung his katana, cutting cleanly through a pole. He got closer, but Blake moved around him quickly, standing at the other side of the same pole. Another swing, another cut. A big chunk of the pole fell off to the side. Blake grabbed it in midair and slammed it on his head.

While he was stunned, Blake swung again and again, not holding anything back with each blow. Adam stumbled away and leaned against a bench, holding his head.

"You're…" he said. "You're vicious, you know that?"

"You're a murderer and a liar," Blake retorted. "Did you know about Joshua? Did you help Sienna plan his assassination?"

"Yeah, I did," he replied. "And we're all the better for it."

Blake stepped close and swung upwards, hitting him in the forehead. Adam reeled back, then stopped, wobbling dangerously.

"I used to believe we were freaks, that the doctors had turned us into monsters. You told me that was nonsense," Blake said. "You were not all wrong, Adam. I'm not a monster…"

She took another swing. The noise of the impact rang across the wagon.

"…but you most definitely are."

Adam smiled. He thrust his sword to the side, his fist glowing red. She saw the glow transfer from his body, into the pommel, and finally the blade. He raised the katana up high and prepared to swing.

Instead of dodging, Blake closed the little distance between them and punched him in the stomach, then ripped the sword from his hands. Adam fell on the ground sitting, out of breath. Blake looked down at the katana and saw it was still glowing.

"Well," he said, looking up at her. "Do it. Slay the monster."

Blake stared at him for a moment. She realized, with not a small amount of terror, that a part of her wanted to do exactly as he said. Only the quietest of voices was telling her not to.

She turned away.

"Goodbye, Adam."

* * *

With two minutes and thirty-five seconds left, Blake crossed into the first wagon, where all the passengers and Pyrrha awaited.

"Blake," Pyrrha said. "Where's Adam?"

"He's not a problem anymore," Blake answered. She hated how difficult it was to say those words. "The bombs?"

"I disabled the ones here, but if we don't disengage the wagons, the other blasts will get us," Pyrrha said. "Have you figured out how to do that?"

"…Sure."

Blake walked to the doorway between the wagons and looked down. She could see the line that separated them. There was probably some kind of lock keeping them together. Without it, they would just separate and the back would drift away.

She raised Adam's sword, aimed carefully, and swung. With the energy still stored in it, the blade cut easily through the metal. The wagons separated, and slowly but surely, the back started to lose speed.

"That wasn't how I imagined you would do it," Pyrrha muttered beside her. "But good job."

"Yeah. Good job."

The rest of the train became smaller and smaller. A minute passed, and then…

Even from such a distance, Blake felt the heat of the explosion brush against her face. She closed her eyes and felt Pyrrha lay a finger on her shoulder.

"It's over."


	10. Fresh start

"It's over."

Blake looked away from the explosion, her ears twitching. It didn't sound like the train was going any slower.

"Not yet," she said. "The train's not stopping."

Pyrrha took a step back and closed her eyes, focusing on the vibrations of the metal surrounding her. "You're right. I was hoping disengaging would lose us speed, but that's clearly not the case," she grimaced. "If we don't stop the train, we'll eventually reach the last station at the capital and crash."

"I suppose that was part of Adam's plan," Blake noted bitterly. "Blown up or not, the train does some damage. How do we stop it?"

"The navigation system is fried, so that's out of the question," Pyrrha said. "Beacon might be able to help, but we can't count on them getting here in time. What else…"

"You can stop it."

Pyrrha looked down at her hands. "Something this big? I'm… not sure that's possible."

For the first time since Blake had met her, Pyrrha seemed to be completely out of her depth. Gone was the confident, resourceful agent, and in her place stood a frightened fourteen-years-old girl tasked with saving a hundred people's lives.

Blake laid a hand on Pyrrha's arm and squeezed, drawing her attention back to her. "Pyrrha, you can do it," she said. "Do it for them."

Pyrrha looked at the passengers crowding the wagon, then nodded and went down on one knee. She pressed the palms of her hands against the floor and concentrated.

Blake watched anxiously, noticing as Pyrrha's arms started to shake and drops of sweat ran down the back of her neck. After what felt like an eternity, the train shuttered, as if it had met some invisible obstacle. Pyrrha gasped loudly, hunching her back.

"Pyrrha?" Blake called worriedly. "Are you-"

"I'm fine. I'm okay," Pyrrha breathed in deeply. "I can do this."

She pressed against the floor again. A glowing black outline appeared around her fingers, contrasting strangely with the daylight coming through the windows of the wagon. She was silent, but didn't appear to be under as much physical stress as before.

The drop in speed occurred so smoothly, Blake only noticed it once Pyrrha got back up and beat her hands together to shake off the dust and dirt. After a minute or two, the wagon at last came to a halt.

"You did it." Blake said.

Someone started to clap. In a matter of seconds, every passenger in the train was doing the same. Pyrrha looked at Blake and smiled.

"We did it."

* * *

Beacon arrived half an hour later, three airships filled with personnel prepared for a fight. They were pleasantly surprised to discover the time for combat had already passed.

Two of the airships left quickly to take the stranded passengers of the train to the capital. Blake waited while Pyrrha went to talk with the woman in command of the remaining airship. She returned a few minutes later.

"Okay, we're going to our base in Shade," Pyrrha said. "Sorry, Blake, but I have to ask you to come along."

"That's not really a request, is it?" Blake shook her head in resignation. "What's in store for me?"

"Don't worry about that. I'll make sure you get recognized for what you did today," Pyrrha assured. "Our course of action might have been reckless, but I had the power to change that anytime I wanted. I should have, in fact. So I'm the one to be held accountable, not you."

Blake opened her mouth to protest, but once more she was quieted by Pyrrha's intense, commanding gaze. There was nothing she could say. From now on, her fate was on Pyrrha's and Beacon's hands.

* * *

The silence that followed the end of her account didn't surprise Blake. What did surprise her was the little smile that appeared on the Director's face once he realized she had reached the end.

"What are you smiling about?" She asked, sounding more aggressive than she had meant to. Something about that smile just unsettled her. As if he could read her perfectly… like Adam used to.

"Oh, it's nothing," Ozpin said, sitting straighter in his seat. "I noticed you glossed over Adam's death. Was that on purpose?"

"Why would I hide anything from you?" Blake glared at him. "It happened like I told you. We fought. I won and left him behind to die. End of story."

He met her glare with a mild look, the light above them reflecting off his glasses. Unquieted, Blake turned her eyes to the table between them.

"Do you think that was the right thing to do?" Ozpin asked. "Leaving him behind?"

"The right thing?" Blake frowned. "No. I don't know what the right thing to do was, or if that even existed. I did what was best for the innocent people on that train."

"And do you feel guilty about it?"

Blake opened her mouth, an immediate _no_ on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.

She didn't regret saving those people. She didn't regret working with Pyrrha to stop the White Fang. And, hard as it was to admit, she didn't regret fighting Adam when the situation called for it. Rationally, she knew she shouldn't feel guilty. Yet she did.

Regardless of what he had become in the end, Adam was the person she had been closest to for most of her life. As complicated as their relationship was, she couldn't picture her life without him in it. He had saved her, helped her when she needed it most. And though she had tried to do the same for him, it hadn't been enough. _She_ hadn't been enough. And so she had given up and killed him.

Because that's what she had done. Not with his sword. But by abandoning him. By not trying harder.

And what did that make her?

"Miss Belladonna."

Blake looked up. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts she had missed the Director get up and move to the door. He looked back at her and opened it, then gestured outside.

"You are free to go."

Blake didn't move, her eyes shifting from him to the corridor beyond the doorway. "Is this a trick?" She asked. "Why would you let me go? You just heard me confess to being part of the White Fang. I put the lives of hundreds of people just for the _chance_ of saving a terrorist!"

"I believe you just answered your own question," Ozpin said, the corner of his mouth quivering almost imperceptibly. "You needn't worry about the consequences of your actions. Things are being taken care of. And if you believe yourself to be so dangerous that I shouldn't let you go… remember that you are in the middle of a Beacon facility bustling with trained agents. You couldn't escape if you tried to."

"Well, that's a comfort," Blake replied dryly. "I so feel like leaving as you suggested now."

"You won't be _leaving_ just yet, of course. I'll speak to you again later today," Ozpin gestured again, more insistently. "For now, you should rest. Take a shower. Grab something to eat. I'll have an agent help you around."

After a moment of silence, Blake got up. She didn't entirely trust him, but Ozpin had a point. She was in no position to try anything. And she could spare to sleep for a couple days.

* * *

Water. _Warm_ water. God, she… she didn't think of herself as that superficial as to cry because of a good shower, but she couldn't fool herself. Back in the White Fang, the water was always cold, but she had never complained. In time, she had grown used to it.

When the first drop hit her back, she almost collapsed to her knees. The last time she had felt anything like this…

No. She couldn't think about that. She had promised herself long ago. Crying about what could have been didn't help anyone. Now more than ever, she knew that to be true.

Something that was just as useless, but much less painful, was revisiting old memories, and smiling because she had been happy then. And maybe, just maybe, that could bring her the strength to be happy right now.

Yes. A warm shower…

* * *

When she came out of the bathroom and into the small guest room Beacon had allocated for her, Blake was surprised to find three sets of clothes laid out for her in the bed. All of them fairly casual attires, no Beacon uniforms. Good.

After a few minutes of consideration, she chose the black and white shirt and shots. She looked at herself in the mirror and nodded. She could almost pass as normal. Except for, of course, those little things in her head.

Sighing, she turned to the door and walked out of the room.

Pyrrha was waiting in the hallway, leaning back against the wall. She had changed into casual clothes too, but somehow she managed to look just as good as before.

"Hey." Blake greeted quietly.

Pyrrha looked at her and step closer and away from the wall. "Hello, Blake. Feeling rested?"

"More rested than I've felt in years, to be honest," Blake admitted. "Thanks for the shower. And the clothes. And… everything else, I suppose."

"First off, you don't need to thank me. Seriously, you don't," Pyrrha said. "Second, if you _want_ to thank me, at least wait until after we grab something to eat."

"I don't want to impose."

Pyrrha crossed her arms sternly, then turned and started to walk away. Blake lingered where she stood for a while, then sighed in resignation and followed after her.

They walked quietly for a few minutes, until they reached what looked to Blake like a small food court. It was like one of those café places you'd find in a shopping mall. Very out of place in a Beacon facility, she thought, but then again, she was new to this strange world of crimefighting agents and seemingly pointless interrogations.

They sat down in a round table at a corner and Pyrrha called for a waitress. She ordered a sandwich for herself, and Blake followed suit.

"You have restaurants inside Beacon?" Blake asked, thinking the whole situation was rather odd.

"Well, there are many agents whose jobs don't involve going out in the field, and they can't afford the time it takes to go into the city to eat and then come back," Pyrrha said. "It's a benefit of the job, I suppose."

"Hmm. Don't try to win me over." Blake muttered.

Their lunch arrived. Blake had to stop herself from grabbing her sandwich and shoving half of it in her mouth at once. She only started to eat when Pyrrha did, and she did it very delicately – or so she hoped. She wasn't very practiced.

"Pyrrha," Blake spoke again after finishing half of the sandwich. "Did I get you into trouble with the Director? I… told him everything. He didn't show any signs of being angry, but…"

"Don't worry about it. I'm okay. I gave him my honest report before your interrogation. If I hadn't, _then_ I would be in trouble." Pyrrha said.

"But…" Blake put her sandwich down for a moment. "Weren't you the one saying you would face the consequences? So…?"

Pyrrha kept eating her sandwich, but Blake could tell she was troubled. Was she just as confused about the matter as Blake was?

"Director Ozpin told me that, although he will always encourage me to take the safest path, he is glad I chose to take a risk with you. I think he was proud I tried to defuse the situation without resorting to violence in the first place," Pyrrha said. "If things had gone wrong…" She paused. "But everything worked out. So I'm good."

"Is he that lenient with everyone?" Blake asked.

Pyrrha ate the last of her sandwich. "Have I told you you are the first person with a Semblance I've actually encountered?"

Blake paused, not missing the change in subject. It had been so sudden, it would be impossible not to notice. It was rather telling that Pyrrha, well trained in the art of interrogation and persuasion, would do something like that. Considering everything Pyrrha had done for her, Blake had to respect her wishes and forget about the question.

"I know now," Blake said. "I'm surprised. In your line of work, I would think we're kind of… common, I suppose."

"Not at all. Beacon has had agents with Semblance in the past, but today, there are only two, including me. And the other guy's Semblance is… not very noticeable at first contact, from what I'm told," Pyrrha said. "I know of a handful more people around the world, but you're the first I've interacted with."

"You know who else has a Semblance?" Blake raised an eyebrow at her. "Winter Schnee. Yes. Of all people…"

"Really? That makes me wonder if the whole family shares that," Pyrrha smirked. "Huh. Makes it feel much less lonely, doesn't it?"

Blake looked at Pyrrha. An agent of Beacon. Her, an ex-terrorist faunus. And somewhere far away, the heiress of a multibillionaire company.

"Yes, it does."

* * *

"Please, do sit down, Miss Belladonna."

Blake did as Ozpin asked. His office was much more comfortable than the interrogation room from before, with its cushioned chairs, the glass windows behind him that let the sunlight in, and the elegant desk between them. She didn't let her guard down completely, but the new setting and her earlier interactions with the Director did help her be more at ease now.

"I wanted to talk to you once more, for what I hope won't be the last time," Ozpin said. "To clear the air, make sure everything's understood between the two of us. You can leave if you want to, but I'd appreciate it if you stay."

"I'm already here, aren't it?" Blake shrugged. "Let's talk, Director."

"Yes, let's talk," Ozpin nodded. "First off, Blake, about your involvement with the White Fang. I understand that you joined not for what it is today, but for what it used to be. It was a home for you, a place of safety you and many faunus in Vacuo regrettably cannot find anywhere else. And, as a bonus, you got to stand up for the rest of your people," he paused. "Any acts of terrorism you may have carried out in their name are forgiven and archived with access available only to the highest clearance levels in Beacon."

"Well, that's…" Blake didn't know quite what to say. While a small part of her felt that wasn't unfair at all and that she should receive _some_ form of punishment, she was mostly relieved. Running had been a part of her life for far too long. She didn't need Beacon chasing after her.

Relieved as she was, however, she couldn't ignore the feeling that something felt off about her being pardoned so easily. Yes, no civilians had died in the Railway incident, but that didn't mean it would have no impact. If the White Fang had been causing outrage against the faunus before, things would only get worse from here on out.

"What's the catch?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Pardon me the cliché, but… there's no catch," Ozpin said. "As I said, you are free to go, and if you choose to, your pardon will not be revoked. But I have a proposal for you."

"You want me to be one of your agents." Blake stated confidently. She didn't do it to brag or anything like that, but it was painfully obvious to her that was his end goal.

"As always, you are very perceptive. Yes, you could be an agent of Beacon, but that's all I have in mind."

Ozpin leaned on the desk. A shade of green glimmered in his brown eyes, but it was for such a brief moment, Blake was convinced she had imagined it.

"You see, Blake, the world is a far more dangerous place than you – yes, even with everything you've been through – can imagine. There are hidden forces out there that would destroy everything we hold dear to us, faunus and humans alike," Ozpin got up and turned around to face the windows. Blake could see his reflections, and through it, how serious he was. "We will need extraordinary people to defend Remnant. People like agent Nikos… people like you."

"People like me?" Blake drew her chair back, tensing up. "People with Semblances, you mean."

"Yes. But more importantly, people willing to fight for the good of everyone, no matter the cost."

Ozpin turned back around, put a phone down on the desk, and pushed it towards her. It was unlike any device she had ever seen, so thin it looked like it would break at the slightest force, but with a platinum sheeting, it seemed.

"You may stay and become an agent of Beacon, or you may go and do whatever you wish with your life," he said. "But I ask that you always keep this with you, for when the time comes that you will be needed."

Blake looked at the device for a long time. Hidden forces, the fate of the world, and extraordinary people willing to defend it…

She picked it up and left.

* * *

There was little she could do to stop from being recognized, she realized. The White Fang would know who she was regardless of any disguise she wore. A change of name would not help either, and she didn't want to abandon the last gift her parents had given her that still remained.

But the other people, the ones she would pass on the street, the men and women that worked day after day and didn't have the luxury to know how her world worked… From them, she could hide. It was a little humiliating, and maybe she was doing faunuskind an injustice, but maybe it would be good for her in the end.

"You two have defined me for too long."

She cut a black strip of cotton from the clothes Beacon had given her and carefully, slowly, forcing herself to carry through it, wrapped it around her ears. Blake looked at herself in the mirror. It was… her, but not her. It was just as much of a distraction as if they were exposed, but a better - safer - kind of distraction.

Early in the morning after her talk with Director Ozpin, Blake stood in front of the Beacon headquarters in Shade. People walked by her without giving her a second glance. It was strange. A relief, but also sad. She knew if she unwrapped the bow, things would change immediately.

"So you're leaving, after all," Pyrrha said, appearing beside her. "I wish I could say I didn't see this coming, but…"

"It's alright," Blake smiled. "Everyone reads me like an open book, apparently."

"Sorry. You _are_ easy to read," Pyrrha agreed. "I like the bow. It's cute."

"Thanks," Blake looked the other way, hiding her blush. "So, after this, you're back to your regular job stopping terrorists?"

Pyrrha tilted her head. "Something like that," she said. "What about you? Do you have any plans?"

Did she? There were so many paths she could take, just thinking about it was scary. The White Fang would be going all out after the incident, and in response, the government of Vacuo and its more militant citizens would rise against them. Innocent faunus and humans would be caught in the crossfire.

On a more personal note, she had a lot in her plate. The thought of finding a nice, secluded place to live for a while was tempting, but she didn't treat that thought very seriously.

There were people for her to find. Her parents, but she wasn't ready to face them yet. She wouldn't be able to until she was happy enough with who she was. And Ilia… She needed to rescue Ilia!

But… maybe Ilia was in the best place she could be. Blake knew she was smart enough not to get involved with whatever Sienna Khan had planned next. As much as she wanted to have her best friend back, it was for the best that Ilia stayed far away from her, for now at least.

"Blake?" Pyrrha called. "You could always work with us. We would make great partners."

Beacon did good work. They helped a lot of people, which, in the end, was what Blake wanted. But while Ozpin seemed like a good leader, she was hesitant to put her trust in him. She had had enough disappointment from people in positions of power like his.

"Thank you for the offer, Pyrrha, but that's not for me," Blake said, coming to a decision. "I don't know what comes next. I only know that there's too much injustice in the world for me not to do anything about it. Wherever I end up, you can be sure I'll be fighting for what's right. That's a promise, and when we meet again, you can hold me to that."

Pyrrha nodded and gave her a hug. Blake let it go on for a while, then slipped out of the embrace, leaving a clone of herself behind. She managed to make it across the street before Pyrrha noticed her trickery and shouted at her in mock anger. Blake looked over her shoulder and winked.

"Until next time."

* * *

**BLAKE BELLADONNA WILL RETURN IN  
**

**THE HUNT**

* * *


	11. Don't close it yet, it's an RSU story!

Ilia slowly pushed the door open, cringing as the wood dragged against the floor, producing a raspy noise. It was dark inside the office, so dark she almost didn't see him there, hunched and leaning on his desk, shaking from head to toe

"Adam?"

She saw him spasm and heard a metallic clang as something fell off the desk. "What…" his voice was barely recognizable, a long, throaty drawl, as if he hadn't drunk for days. But the hatred that it carried couldn't be mistaken. "What are you doing here?"

Ilia took a step back, wanting to run away and pretend she had never been there, but she was too afraid to try.

"Nevermind. I know why," he said. "She's gone. Turned her back on me, you… all of us," he paused. "She abandoned us… Yet I'm the villain… _I'm_ the villain…"

Her eyes stung with tears. It couldn't be. Blake wouldn't do that to her. She had promised her, with a smile on her face…

 _I'll be back soon_.

Ilia clenched her fists, sadness quickly turning into anger…

" _Fine_ ," he spoke again. "That's fine. She wants me to be a monster? Well, then…"

Ilia looked at him. He had raised his fist, and slowly it started to glow, painting the room in a red hue. She saw his face.

Oh, God, his _face_.

"…that's exactly what she's going to get!"

* * *

She pressed her hands against her ears, pushing so hard it almost hurt, but still she could hear them shouting at the other side of the door. Why couldn't Winter just stop? Family wasn't supposed to yell at each other, especially a daughter against her father. Whenever this happened, everyone, _everyone_ paid for it.

"-believing your lies anymore! Nothing you say to me will change what I've seen! You are a monster!"

"What you've _seen_ is nothing more than a lie constructed by the very people who tried to assassinate you, the very people I told you to stay away from! If you weren't so disobedient, we wouldn't be having this-"

"Exactly! You've controlled me for too long, father. It's over! Goodbye."

"Winter, come back here this instant!"

The door opened and slammed shut. Winter almost ran past her, but she turned her head around just in time to see her press her face against her knees. Her gaze softening, Winter came back and crouched beside her.

"Sister," she whispered. "Come with me. I'm getting you out of here and finding us a better home. Whitley too."

"W-why would do that? You know what h-happens w-when you…"

"No. You don't have to be afraid, not anymore," Winter urged, caressing her cheek. "I'll keep you safe. Just get up and come with me."

She looked up and saw how desperate Winter looked. She had never seen that in her older sister's face, not even when her Semblance had been unlocked or when mother had…

The door opened again. Their father stood in the doorway, glaring at the both of them. Winter's fingers retreated swiftly, and she stood up again, poised to strike. His gaze turned strictly to her, and just like that, Winter wilted and strut away, head low.

"Weiss. In my office."

She followed him inside, afraid to make a sound. After all that yelling, he was quiet. That was never a good sign. He sat in his chair and bade her to sit at the other side of the desk. She did so without hesitation.

"Can you guess why I called you inside?" He asked.

"T-to…" Weiss swallowed dry, closed her eyes for a moment, and raised her chin. Confidence. That's the key, confidence. "To talk to me about the vacant spot left by my sister."

"Yes, exactly that, my princess," he smiled. "How would you like to be the new heiress of the Schnee Dust Company?

"That would…" She course-corrected again, adding a little smile to her perfectly stable voice. "Nothing would make me happier, father."


End file.
